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\F.\V YORK STAXMRP— KXTKA. 




VOICE OF THE PEOPLE, 



M 




AND THE 






FACT S, 









ix m:i,Ario\ to Tim rejection 



OK 



MARTIN VAN BUREN 



BY THE U. S. SENATE. 



NEW YORK : 
PRINTED AT THE STANDARD OFFICE. 

1832. 















JOINT COMMITTEE OF PUBLICATION. 

ALEXANDER M. MUIR, 1 PROSPER W. WETMORE, 1 Appointed by the Dcmo- 

HK.NRV HONE, | Appointed by the Democratic CHARLES O'CONNOR, IcratK Republican On- 

B J MESF.ROLE j. Republican General Commit- JOHN R. LIVI>"(;.ST<).\, Jr. f eralCommiiireof Yuumj 

BENj" M BROWN, tee of the city of New York. EGBERT \V.\K I >. Men of the city or 

CHASDUSENBURY. J ELBtKT M. WILLETT, J New Y..,k. 

Now York, March, 1832. 



f 










i 



© 



TO THE FKOPM3 OF THK TJXITKD STATICS. 



Fellow-Citizens, 

If any thing could add to the reproach, which the 
Senate of the United States lias drawn upon itself, by the re- 
jection of Martin- Van Buren, it ia found in the eager 
haste with which the false pretences, and unfounded asper- 
sions, alleged in vindication of that act, have been put before 
the world. The misguided and misjudging Senators, aided 
by their devoted partizans and subservient presses, have pour- 
ed forth this flood of calumny into every quarter of the Union, 
and every exertion has been made to disseminate their slan- 
ders. Glorying in their deed, these monopolizers of " all 
the decency, all the talents, all the patriotism, and all the ho- 
nor" of this extended Republic, have published myriads of 
copies of speeches Sttui to have been delivered by the " rebu- 
king" Senators, unaccompanied, in almost every instance 
by any of the conclusive answers to their unfounded accu- 
sations. This has been done, too, under the solemn asseve- 
ration that they were actuated by pure and patriotic motives 
and were in Che performance uf a " painful, mott painful," 
duty. 

These remarks are addressed to the honest and indepen- 
dent of every calling and of every party, m defence of one un- 
justly assailed. They are intended to he an antidote to a poi- 
son distilled through every channel by which corruption en- 
deavors to make its way to honest hearts and sound heads. — 
They are directed against a course, flagrantly unjust under 
any circumstances, and wantonly wicked under those now 
presented to ihe public eye in the form aud under the guise 
of truth. The motives are to defend the absent — to protect 
the right — to stigmatize the wrong — to temper the shield of 
truth — to blunt the shaft of calumny. No other apology is 
offered — none will be required by you from that portion of 
your countrymen who have deemed this publication essen- 
tial to a proper understanding of a proceeding without paral- 
lel, an outrage alike upon a President venerated for his pa- 
triotism and services, and a Minister distinguished for his in- 
tegrity and talents. 

The proceedings in this State, in every village and hamlet 
have been echoed to the remotest bounds of the Union ; it is 
peculiarly proper therefore, that the immediate fellow citizens 
of the injured individual, should give to the world the evi- 
dence of his deservedly high standing with those who know- 
him best. This object can only be attained through a medi- 
um like the present. The early history of Martin Van 
Buren — his rapid rise to popular favor — the many and high 
marks of public confidence he has received, are all ably and 
eloquently set forth in the accompanying addresses. The 
CBteem in which. he is held in the great cities of his native 
State, will appear by the proceedings at their respective pub- 
lic meetings. This publication is necessarily limited to these 
proceedings, and the defence made for him by honorable Se- 
nators. An attempt to present the proceedings of even all die 
county meetingsof this State, much more those of the count- 
ies meetings in other states, expressive of their indignation 



at the course of the Senate, would be a work of labor and 
expense beyond what can be necessary for his triumphant 
vindication. Enough is here presented for a sufficient un- 
derstanding of the unworthy motives which have been resor- 
ted to by men hitherto supposed to entertain some respect for 
their stations, how little soever they may have had for them 
selves, or the people by whom they were placed in power. 
All that is desired for these proceedings and speech.-*, is a 
patient and careful perusal. The friends of Mr. Van Buren 
challenge the severest scrutiny into every act of his publio 
life. They say for him as he would say for himself, wera 
he now amongst us — 

"Strike, hut hear." 



The foregoing remarks were penned, and the selection of 
the proceedings and speeches made, with the view of show- 
ing that, so far as the reasons assigned for the act of the Se- 
nate, and the pretences for that act could be judged by unbi- 
assed men, they hud been demonstrated to be utterly baseless. 
Since those remarks were ordered to be printed, a correspon- 
dence between the President and the Republican members of 
the New-Vork Legislature, has been received and te sub- 
joined. The letter of the President completely deprives the 
condemning Senators of every ground on which they have 
sought to defend their conduct, as the President manfully and 
rightly claims for himself, the equity of his difference with 
Mr. Calhoun — the firmness of dissolving his Cabinet — the 
righteousness of having dismissed corrupt men from office 
— the statesmanship of having directed the instructions to Mr. 
McLane — and the patriotism of the whole. Thus assuming 
the entire responsibility of all official acts connected with the 
negotiations with Great Britain, the President volunteers, in 
f terms alike worthy of his feelings and his judgement, a higk 
and deserved tribute to Mr. Van Buren' s public and private 
worth, and boldly says, at the hazard of the exhibition of 
new hostility by the Senate, but in a noble reliance on the 
people, to whom alone he looks for the only reward a patriot 
can ask — "In all this, gentlemen, I have the approbation of 
my judgment and my conscience." He appeals in a strain of 
confidence, equalled only by its sincerity, and the long life of 
public service which authorise it, to all who have known his 
history, whether they believe that he would tarnish the ho- 
nor or sully the glory of the American name, and well may 
he exclaim — 

"I feel, gentleman, that I am incapable of tarnishing the 
pride or dignity of that country, whose glory, both in the field 
and in the civil administration, it has been my object to ele- 
vate : and I feel assured that the exalted attitude which the 
American people maintain abroad, and the prosperity with 
Which they are blessed at home, fully attest that their ho- 
nor andhappiness have been unsullied in my hands." 

Comment on sentiments like these is unnecessary. They 
will meet with a response in every American breast, and will 
add to and strengthen the deep rooted popularity of him who 
emphatically is, the "MAN OP THE PEOPLE." 



From the New York Standard of .Am miry 31st, B332. 
GREAT MKliTING AT TAMMANY HAITj. 

At a large and iMpaotalile Meeting of the Democratic Re- 
publicans of the city of New Vork, convened by public no- 
tice bx Tammany Hall, on Monday the 30lh January, 1^32 

ABM. BLOODGOOD, T.m\. was called to die Chair und, 

At.Ex.M.MuiR and i ^ appointed Seerettriak, 
Henry Hone, S 

' The object of the meeting wan eloqui n'ly Mated by V. B. 
Cutting and Myer Moses, K.siirs.— and as the riM.n.^ wew 
found to be entirely <oo small to contain the immani ua m- 
Wage, it was, on motion, 

Resolved, That a Committee* of fourteen, one from i act 

Ward, be appointed 1 il I lw i I! idiitioui. rxi<rrt 

■tve "f 'he sense of the meeting on the r<j ctionof the HON. 
MARTIN VAN Hl'RKN, us Minister tu England, by the 
S.-naie of the United States. 

Whereupon, the following genUamcn were selected and 
unanimously approved by the ting: 



WARDS. 


WARDS, 


1 st. Mver Moses, 


Btl . 


I> B T 1 i 


»nd. W. P. Halletl, 


Olli. 


Lee, 


3rd. ElishaTibbits, 
4th. Montgomery Rank i 


IOiIi. 


John Lane, 


I, 1 llli. 


John A. MorrilL 


JStlu Henry Hone, 


ISth. 


Ch U-Ji ■ 11. II:. 1! 


fltli. Alex. M Muir, 


13th. 


John Lovett, 


■Jill. Wm. S. Coe, 


1 lil>. 


T.T. Woodruff, 



On motion the Chairman WU added to (In- Committee. 

On motion it was 

Resolved, That this narrtfinn adjourn until tomo r r o w et c- 

ning, at 7 o'clock, to the Luge r I the Hall, to hear flip 

Report of the Committee, aiin that thi > 

by the Chairman and Secretai ie and be j ithliahe I in 

Democratic Journals of tin rii 

ABM. BLOODGOOD, Ciuurmao. 

ALEX. M.MUR. / s , rf 

HENRY HONE, j N "" *" 

The above are the proceedings which arere laal ni 
ried by acclamation, and 

tion of the streets ami the uriplctu the weather, 

every room and avenue, i which hud 

been')' n< •) ' niftbi !atioo, and 

hundreds could not obtain an entrance to tbi Hall, i i thai 
an adjourned rneetmi wat indispeti able. The Committee 
appointed have a hi**h and reaponsil rfbnn. Not 

only arc the e yea of the city, bill ihfl 
will Ik* upon them. The tone of their rctalutiani will 
tone and spirit to the frieml* of a persecuted stateenuin, ■ 
only offence in the eyeeof his enemies — the only pretended 
offence is, thut he ncc.unplished thai whtc.fi the double deal- 
ing of the previous administrate i ccompliah. 

He flared '■■ ■ id full in hie inerrnciiooi to our Mi- 

nister, Mr. Ml, bJ na- 

tion as he would with a groat mn 

only, tan by iota, that an with individual* *o with govern- 
■*, honeHy i« the Irua poisey. Wa are awant, wa anv it 
plainly enough latl niglU. thai then arc 
openly attempt t.> resiet (lie popub 

almost to huO iJUtat fon the term* in which N '■ ihould 
express her atpee "f the inault attempted to lie put upon her 
by a parti. beaded by w gambling nawrffcfa/f for 

the Prrxiitri. 

But we ore sure lhatnolanguo i:tedthai shall 

express the undisguin h 

malignity of men mi*named " honorable;" and their conti- 
nued confidence m Martin Van Buren, aa the I 
President and the people. W 
day— let wo halt way ea*OLi n«>\-, b 
V>o{f in sheep" j rfothing he ( . 
eaan With Nsw-Yoaa and VaxBi bi 
Calhoun an I Nri LtricATioa inhn heart 
friends of Mr Van Buren r.illy as one man, ai 
with one vowe, and Let that man wh 

Pruiden^ beheld, as he will he. n>i H Van Bu- 

ren, and * 

kntnr from Mr. vi u Buran's nnW intimmte and *-o-i/( . 
riend*, thai Ac \ri*hrm that mailer a 

f the country, to be I 
Baltimore in Mar new He wUlnotba thruatupo I 

■7 <*w 7 "" I « >U his real friends suffer him 

lobe saenflced byfts ditguwi as fnend.. \h- n ours, 
ana miansao to be. 



From the Standard of Feb. Lat, 1832. 
ADJOIHN'DMIIKTINCATTAMMANYHALL. 
Thi* being aa adjourned a se a tin g, AT.RM. BLOODGOOD 
i took thi chair, and General Mvn and H. Howe, 

■rl tu Seeretoriea. D. It, Tallniadpe, Eso. from the 
Committee appointed to pre j ►art* raaolutiona, &c. for the eon- 
ridt ration of thu meeting, urefacmg by a in-at and eloquent 
■pi ach, offered the following 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Whereas it is tlic inh--r.-iil i i-^ht of the people of iheso 
United Slatea at all times tu nsaemble and fearlessly to ex- 
■ reus their opinion* of man and maaauraa — 

The democratic citixenaofihc city i>f .\.-w Voik ti«-w the 
rejection by the S'-natc of the United Statea of Martin Van 
Buren aa Minister 1*1* aipotentiary to Gnat Britain, a fit and 
proper subject for their consideration. 

Thi . n vert to the late administration brought into power 
by u meaaure of traffic, existinc by the voice of a majority of 
d weak in the confidence of the nation. 

Tliev pi. aanl the nappy eontraal apparent m ih« present 
odnuniatratiop — the people peculiarly prosj-erous und happy, 
and the character of tlic nation elevated beyot-d all prece- 
dent. 

In aeekiilg the cHUieB of these blessings they find them in 
the paiHotiam, the virtue and the intelligence of the head of 
the adininiatration and hie confidential aaviaen — among the 
lattur pre-eminently contmicuc*ua stood Martin Van Buren, a 
citizen alike diatmguiahea for hie service* to his native state, 
for his iintinii'; dftVOtiOB u> the l^ffit inltnats of tits Uruon^ 
exempl every occasion, but esjicially in the ele- 

vated and responsible office of Secretary of State. 

Actuated by the purest motive* afld influenced alone by a 
desire to pramoai trie public welfare and secure the harmony 
of our National Council*, Murtin Van Buren voluntarily 
withdrew from tint* dirtinguiahed situation. 

The Preeident, streng t nened ui his confidence of this Hi«- 

ri/.ii, did in the re«-f«s of the Nciihte, appoint 

him Minister Plenipotentiary to the United Kingdom of Great 

Britain and I m hunt, where he ia noar the accredited Kepre- 

seiitmive of these United 9tataa. 

It wa* reaerved for the present Senate of Ui>- United S raits, 
hi thi I" their high preriu-aiiveii, and pending an 

impon at ion, to rejecl his nomination by the easting 

vote of the Vi«-e President — regardle** of what was due to 
(ne faalingf* of a nm^atky of the people, and of the injurious 

.■.his ijtfteoce* I" the nation, in relatiun be the impression that 

theii unprecedenb ill have with all the powers of 

and Mpecially that of Great Britain. 

Then bre RaVofrea^Thai the citizens of New-York in this 
moating aaaasabled, deem it a duty, as it is their right, :o ani- 
tnadvert feeely upon the conduct of the majority of trie Senate 
and to pass an unqualified expression of censure upon an act 
growing out of an unnatural coalition alike undignified in it* 
cnaracter and bearing upon its \*ery front, a total disregard 
of tha- rneaaura of n *, eat and courtesy due to the executive 
i i ted Staiaa, 

Asao/recf, Thut John C. Calhoun, Viae President or the 
United State*, and Prrsidtnt of the Senate, bv civing the eas- 
tuiL- vote against the confirmation of Martin Van Buren, da- 
; r rtMii the bsgfa dignity of his station and waa lort to a 
sense of that duty which he owed t" ■ snd which, 

under tlic peculiar cir«*um»tancesof his relations with the Kx- 
<■- itiva. called f«-r n different and far more liberal corns.-. 

fnrswfanrf, That John C. Oaihimr haaby his vote aheruued 

and saparsned birnaalf frosn the ronftd e n ne of the people, 

fcrtiarity, joined to the deep rooted populari- 

v ..f Andrew Jackson, lie was retained in tne Vice Presttlen- 

cv. 

/.' .[red. That we vk-w the vote of ihe majority of the 
touchmg 'his nomination, as an evidence thai pergo- 
nal and partiznn hostility nml j OUxicaJ intrigue have usurped 
the place of a- .un-i and "impartial judgement on the merits 
and qualifications of the distinguished individual to whose 
confirmation their aihiceand consent were asked by the Pre- 
sident. 

Rrtolrrd, Thai -he State of New-York yielding to no 

member of the Union in ataehment to the Constitution, ran- 

DOt without being lost to its own consequence, tamely submit 

- studied indignity offered toone at ns moit talented and 

patriot \r - uaani 

The roeeimg was afterwords »ddressed by J. O. 5-*aT*«r 
John 1 M Robert B M.-rns, Frsncis B. Cutting and 

John A. Morrill. Fsi|S.— all of whoin'spoke IT , warm and for- 
\rut trrms oftlie honor, vinne, fa lent and painoueroof Maa- 
tjm Vak lli-ac-4 — and in terms of reprobauon against the 
majcr ale, who by relating his nomination, in 

nsuli not only tne dtaunguished enrzeus of thifj 



Slate — 'nit even the President himself. 

The preamble and resolutions were then adopted by accla- 
mation. 

On motion, it was resolved, that a Committee of twenty- 
four, to correspond with the number of States — be appointed 
to transmit the proceedings of this meeting to Martin Van Bu- 
ren, at London. Whereupon tlie following gentlemen were 
appointed by the Chairinun. 



Walter Bowne, 
Benj. Bailey, 

Saul Alley, 
P. Fish, 

James Campbell, 
John Taiisee, 
Gideon Lee, 
Wm. P. Hallett, 
Wm. M. Prics, 
Saml. A. Talcott, 
D. B. Tallmadge, 
John Lovett, 



Elisha Tiboits, 
Eldad Holmes, 
Asa Mann, 
Thos.T. Woodruff, 
Erastl'S Barnes, 
Francis B. Cutting, 
Mont'y Rankin, 
Charles H. Hall ( 
C. W. Lawrence, 
Abraham Bloodgood, 
Henh v Honk, 
Alex. M. Miir. 



On motion, the meeting then adjourn •! 

The above proceedings ure as furnished by the Chairman 
and Secretaries. 

Since the erection of the addition to Tammnuy Hall, the 
great party room, ii is said, will contain more than V 
pie, and if so. more than 4000 were present last evening to 
express their sentiments in reference to the rejection by the 
Senate of Mr. Van Buren's nomination. The resolutions 
prepared by the Committee were read by Daniel B. Tall- 
mousfe, Esq. who reviewed the private and political history 
of j"VJt Van Buren, and demonstrated i" the satisfaction of 
all present thai the motives of the Senate — that their pro- 
oeeamgs, were those of partiz&ns — and that they stand with- 
out excuse to the nation, for this unpri d unpar- 
donahle insult to the Minister, the President, and the peo- 
ple. The voice of this meeting will be heard throughout 
the Union, and teach the senatorial intriguers, thai Martin 
Van Bitren is not to he "rebuked" by Daniel Webster, 
nullified by John C. Calhoun, nor bragged down by Henry 
Clay. 



From the Album/ Argus, 
THE VOICE OF \HW YORK. 

At a meeting of the Republican members of tlie I 
ture of the State of New York, convened in tlie Assembly 
Chamber, on Friday eveiiin?, February 3, 1832, the Hon. 
EDWARD P. LIVINGSTON, Lieut. Governor and Presi- 
dent of the Semite, was called to the Chair, and the Hon. 
Charles L. Livingston, Speaker of the Assembly, and tlie 
Hon. Edward Howell, of Steuben, appointed Secretaries. 
Mr. N. P. Tallmadge, of the Senate, Chairman of the 
Committee appointed to call Legislative Meeting, offered the 
following Resolutions on behalf of die Committee, vtz: 

Resolved, that we look upon the rejection of the nomina- 
tion of MARTIN VAN BURENas Minister Plenipotentia- 
ry to Great Britain, as an act calculated in tlie highest de- 
gree, to reflect dishonor upon the nation in the eyes of foreign 
suites, and to degrade the Senate of tlie United States m die 
eyes of our own citizens: 

That it is, at this time, tlie more to be deprecated, as its ten- 
dency is to draw into doubt and uncertainty with the Brit- 
ish-government, the policy of our own, by stamping with 
condemnation an appointment made by the Chief Magistrate, 
for the purpose of concludinga negotiation, forthe settlement 
of question* involving principles of the highest national im- 
portance; a negotiation, of which the failure might possibly- 
lead to an interruption of our friendly relations with a pow- 
er, between whom and ourselves, it is of vital interest to both 
parties, that a mutual good understanding should be main- 
tained : 

That it is an indignity offered to the Chief Magistrate of 
the nation, and an insult to his long, devoted and patriotic ser- 
vices; diat it is worthy of seing a concluding scene to the 
drama, which opened by arraigning his military character 
on the floor of Congress, and continued by waging a vindic- 
tive warfare against his late cabinet, and by invading with 
ruthless violence, the sanctuary of hU domestic peace : 

That it is an outrage to the unblemished private character, 
eminent talents and distinguished public services of the indi- 
vidual whose nomination has been rejected ; carrying with it 
the disheartening moral, that no purity of reputation is a 
safeguard against the en ry and malice which are constantly 
Beeking to bring down to "their own level in the scale of opin- 
ion, all who succeed, by disinterestedness and virtue, in rising 
above it : 

That in the rejection of his nomintion, the public expecta- 
tion has been disappointed, the public honor tarnished, and 
the public interests put at hazard, by a corrupt combination 
for political object*. 



Resolved, That we have the highest confidence i" the in- 
ism, talents and virtue of MARTIN VAN BD- 

his rejection only in its relation to tho 

public intei o its tender theel 

of the Sei I - : i n the eyes of the nation, 

an 1 the ' the nation in the eyes of the world : — 

confidi nt in the i ilief that corrupt condemnations, by what* 

ever tribunal pronounced, always have the effect of elevating 

v are intended to destroy. 

/■' i That in turning' our attention from the authors of 

this foul of the state of New-York, 

for reversing this unnglit- 

■ ■■.<■ unbounded confidence in their 

n- virtue and tl id that we took 

to them foi - itations of th> ice of the 

wanton injury ■ El, and, through 

him, the dishonor visited upon the country. 

R -v. d t That die thanks of the nation are due to those 
members of the Senate of tlie United States, who, faithful to 
the publ.i i .I, honor, firmly, though 

he sacrifice of i a), distinguish- 

ed for public and private virtues, at the altar of personal 
hostility. 

/.' ■'■■rd, Tiiat considering the rejection of Mr. VAN 
l!( \i\.\ as a blow aimed at Pre of the United 

States, through an individual high in his confidence, wo 
deem it propel on this occasion, to express our entire coufi- 
deni in I r, talents, and the principles of his ad- 

ministiasion; thai thi ive attempts to impair his 

I ublic course, nave had me effect 
ii- estimation, and confirming his claims 
le ; ami thai we pledge ourselves 
to rally around and sustain h tioo of jk>- 

litical aspirants, whose success would be as disreputable to 
icterof the country, ahd as desolating to its prospe- 
bis civil and military services have been glorious to 
the one and invaluable to die othet. 
Mr. Tai.i.mah',k, having read the resolutions, addressed 
ting with great eloquence and efl M di pitted 

esofDfl \KTI\ \ \\ lU'REN— his devo- 
tion to the democracy — his career, as brilliant as it had been 
useful, in the maintenance of great constitutional and repub- 
— the ardent attachment of the people of New- 
Vork to him who under all circumstances had consulted their 
interests and devoted himself to their welfare — the eminence 
to wlnrh, undei he had 

nself, without the adventitious aids of wealth and 
rank — the ability and fidelity with which he had discharged 
these high functions, acquiring a just renown for himself, and 
honor and glory for his native state — the envy and hostility 
with winch the aristocracy had pursued him, from his first 
and humb last and crowning act of infamy 

and ma I iff on their cart in his reject mn by the casting vote of 
an aristocratic personal and political rival — the double blow 
which was thus aimed at the President of the United States, 
in tins assault upon his friend, and upon a leading and suc- 
cessful measure of his administration, and at the State of 
New- York, through a citizen who has no superior in her af- 
fections, and for whom, on this occasion, she will speak with a 
tone that will vindicate her honour, and sustain her favorite 
son. 

Messrs. EDMONDsand Foster, of the Senate, and Mr. Otis 
of the Assembly, also addressed the meeting, pertinently and 
eloquently. 

The resolutions were then unanimously adopted. 

On motion of Mr. Edmonds, it was resolved, that the reso- 
lutions relative to the rejection of the nomination of the Hon, 
Martin Van Busen be signed by the Republican members 
of the Legislature, and that a committee be appointed to trans] 
rait copies thereof to the President of the United States, to 
Mr. Van Buren, and to the Senators and Representatives of 
this .State in the Congress of the United States. Thereupon 
the Chairman appointed tlie Committee, as follows: 

Messrs. Tallmadge, Armstrong, Beardsley, Hubbard an*! 
Edmonds, of tlie Senate ; and Messrs. Livingston, Howell 
Litchfield, Wood, Remer, Ostrander, Angel, Hughston, Wil- 
liamson and Seymour, of the Assembly. 
OF THE SENATE. 

First District. — Stephen Allen, Alpheus Sherman, Jona 
than S. Conklin, Harman B. Cropsey. 

Second District.— -Saml. Rexford, N. P. Tallmadge, Da- 
vid M. Westcott, Allan Macdonald. 

Third District. — Lewis Eaton, Wm. Dietz, Herman I. 
Quackenboss, John W. Edmonds. 

Fourth District. — John McLean, Jr. Isaac Gere, Wm. I. 
Dodge, Josiah Fisk. 

Fifth District.— AWm Bronson, Henry A. Foster, Robert 
Lansing. 



Siith District.— JohaV. Hubbard, Levi Bcnrdslcy, John 
Q, H Dowell. 

Seventh. District. — Thoi ■' ' 1 1 Halsey. 

OF TBK ASSEMBLE 

Albany Co.— V> m. & I' ! acker, Abijah 

13. Diabrow. 

Cayuga Co.— Geo. H. Rrinkerhoft.John W. Sawyer, Jolm 
Bcnrdslcy, Geo. S. Tilford. 

Columbia Co.— Leonard W. Ten Broecfc, Hedad Builer, 
Tobias L. Boeaboom. 

CurtlandCo. — Andrew Dickson, Jonathan L.Woods. 

IMairmr Co. — Jas. Hii'-'Iihioii, Jaa. Coulter, 

Dutch™ Co. Rout. Coffin, Eli Hamblin, Michael 9 Mar- 
tin, Israel Shartbolt. 

S^tex Co. .Israel fauderwarker. 

„ f'ranldin Co. .1 B 

Greene Co.- Dum I El istv II 

Herkimer Co.— Wm. C. Grain, David Thorp, Daniel Dy- 

^ Jefferson Co.— Win. H. Angel, Philip Maxwell, Nathan 
Strong. 

Kings Co. — Coc S. Downing. 

Lewie Co. — Andrew W. D 

Montgomery Co. Peter Wood, Silas Philli] J < 

Ac it- i'orA- Co.— Si M - well, Philip E. Milledoler, 
Mordecai Myers, Mynd n Van Sehaiek, CI rl iL I 
ion, Jan ■- Mi _■ in, Juduh II ' ' ' aa n a vtr , 

Isaac L. Varian, John M'Keon, N hanT 1 Id. 

Oneida Co. I> nil - T iti . D Koulton, Lemuel 
Hough, Nathaniel Pit Ii, Rul B M i r. 

Onondaga Co El >ha Litchfield, Elijah W. Curtis, 
Miles W. Bern IK 

Orange Co.— Isaac K. Van Duser, Chas. Winfield, John 
Barker. 

Oruega Co. Ivi rj Skinner, 

l i n, Gilbert Cone, Wro.Kirby, 

Sand. Colv. 

J'utnam Co.— Reuben D. Barnum. 

/.' doer Co.— John C. Eemble, Nicholaa M. M 
Hosea Bennett, Henry J ' lanel 

Richmond Co.— Jacob Ueroereau. 

fiorklontl Co.— Isaac. I. Blauv.dt, 

SchcnfUuhj Co. — Abraham Dora 

Saratoga Co.— Oran 6. Otis, James Brisbin, Jr. BbenCTCT 

SI. iMwrcnce Co.— Win. Allen, Edwin Dodge. 

Schoharie Co.- i ex. C 

Seneca Co. R ib< D.Dodgi i aatus w worth. 

Steuben Co.— Edward Howell, John H'Burney. 

Suffolk Co.— John M. Wflliam S I. II uimedieu, 

TWa CO.— Nai 9 ' ; "i Jr - 

Tompkint Co.— H M I ' 

I ■ , HI 

Warren Co. \ I 

W.vthington Co. Isaac V B 

ii . . , J ii ton. 

Westchester Co.- Israel H W 
ybi, ■ ' ' Renter. 

i ..ii\\ m:h »• LIVINGSTON, Qwirman. 

0HABU1 L I. IMS., .u-. / s . ,,..„,„. 
Kl'WIRI' HOWBLL, V 



Jr. 



REM tllk- <>l IK IN. N. P. T W.I.V. \|M I 

lu the Republ I • M 

representative, of iheD I x ' 

to tt. >\ \ \N I'd RI N 8 ....initiation. 

M, i- • . I rhich 1 

this 

I 
B | M ( Bui II ' 

govei But w 

dianalion h 

bU - 

is llicir jii.1l- 

this 

..ade, as tin 

■ 

re[ . 

and losxpreseo 

to the honor of out tU'- I . u.n, let us not to erabar- 



aimed language m which they shall be 

Conveyed. Those who have had neither regard for their 

oountry, nor respect for themselves, can claim from us no 

other language than that which is best suited to the occasion. 

I Ins State and of this Union have heretofore 

ith becoming reverence on the Senate of the U. S. 

as tlie most dignified body under the 

tent. By its recent tr. noun-lions, it has descended 

from that high elevation. It is degraded in the eyes of the 

nation in the eyes of the world. Wi 

ely convert u n amber into an arena, and 

in to become [Kihtical gladiators, it is high 

Bme the people knew the character of their servants, 

which the p ^-.aure sacrificed to promote 

ii,, ii ov ii art, It is high t unholy 

scorn and detestation— and that 

. [ a nice and sensitive regard for 

the honor of the nation, should give place lo the real causes of 

the outrage, an unnatural alliance tor the promotion of per- 

Bonal and political obi 

\\ lio, lei me a»k, is this distinguished individual whom 
. n.-al aspirants have thus attempted to disgrace an 

M is well known to us all. of this 

familiar with hie name, and with the services he 

.nutrv. His r. ipulalton is dear lo llieln. 

and they will be the last to sutler it to lie tarnished by foul 

-, however high or however low their origin. He 

He n not of that class, which. 

. iionaled 

en. which has 

preeervedto the present day, and which 

I, with an air of trhim] b, on the i>urt of 

ii, u jealous eye on the success of 

the peoplehave dehghtedto honor. 

i humble origin. He is the artificer of his 

lurae of Ins political career, 

naa h, he humility of nis birth. The 

of family distinction has sneered at his 

tempted to frown into retirement the 

■ . ; . am exert 

vain. It was contrary to the spirt. 
tree institutions. Iii this country, the road to promo- 
r, the honors '» open to all. Every 

' the aristocracy 

. his progn Wl all have the 

rving tins principle inviolate, and of 

fame of those who have, unaided and 

r own way 10 distinction. Ol.ec suffer 

„,„.), „ hful aspirations of our own 

by tins overgrown andover- 

: i. the future welfare and 

let us rally round the man 

< cauae, and teach the 

'lull 
|| .,•■ from no i -ulidilioil rise; 

■■ ACI well v.air | art, there all the honor lies." 
\\ nit, sir, n die history of tins persecuted stateman 1 

l found engaged in lh< 

profeaaion, and sin. . ••fully ' 

at the bar. foi those honors ai» 

- of unwearied industry, am 

la of talent and genius. Hi 

tot him a reputnuon whic' 

uvy. and advanced hu, 

.. eralofthl 

II the duties ol this station with equs 

rs 

| . M 1 - it 

■ k in Ins profesai." ■ ■ 

equal .tandlirpj 
■ which lL3 

1) Bar 

; I 'ireat 

I was here 

-. f.K-s witli- 

.1 ] oil - 

ailed upon 



B 






I . 






-. ■,■! a r -. aaaj 



and 



nun to i <xh by sea 

. Tompkins ■ a»J« of 

1 1 and a xeal that 

i to die service of his country. 

aid than Mr. Van Bu- 

- was often 

heard in «Kl"* " 

., the war-to feed and clothe out half starved and 



half clad soldiery; while some of his present persecutors 
were openly rejoicing at the defeat of our arms, and secretly 
imploring succe'ss on those of the enemy. 

After the close of the war, and when peace was once more 
restored to our distracted country, you at length see him in 
the convention to revise the Constitution. Here he was 
surrounded by the collected wisdom and talent of the SI ■ 
— a constellation of genius, in which none appeared more 
brilliant than himself. Here it was, that lie contended 
against the aristocracy of the land, in favor of fhepeoi 
the extension of the right of suffrage. Here it was, that, with 
others of die democratic school, he prevailed over those who 
were unwilling to entrust more power to the people, and hap- 
pily established the principle that in a government like ours, 
the people are capable of governing themeelveai 

We next behold him in the Senate of th 
dignified body, which was adorned by his presence, and 
w I nwlms been degraded in hie absence. Here he scarcely, 
found an equal, and acknowledged no superior. No 
discussed with more ability tin ubiecte that 

beforethem. With a thorough knowledge oi the history of 
the government, and its various relations, lie grasped all mat- 
ters with a force and comprehension, which astonished, whilst 
it commanded the admiration of all who witnessed his 
efforts. His speech on the judiciary will lie rem 
long as the judicial department of the government shall 
and his splendid effort in favor of thi 

soldiers of the Revolution will not be forgo nsthe 

Almighty spares the honored remnant oi 1 1 I 
whilst their descendants cherish the principles of their im- 
mortal sires. Here, he maintained the tin.' princ 
constitution, and the long established practice of the t; 
ment, to permit the President to choose his own Cabinet— his 
confidential advisers — and to select his own agents — the for- 
eign ministers — to conduct our negociations at foreign courts 
—and to hold him responsible for the acts of the administra- 
tion. It was at this period that the nomination of Henry 
Clay, by President Adams came before the Senate for their 
consideration. Mr. Clay secured Sir I ection as 

President, when the question came before thi Hon B 

presentatives, of which Mr. Cluv wna a conspicuous membi r. 
It was well known thronghout the country, that they laid 
been bitter rivals during the Presidential canvass, and it will 
not soon be forgotten, that during this period, such was their 
bitterness that each threatened to expose the other, and thus 
satisfy the people that neither was worthy of the suf 
confidence of the nation. No sooner was die election deter- 
mined, and Mr. Adams declared President, than he Domina- 
ted Mr. Clay, his former bitter enemy and rival, to the high 
and responsible office of Secretary of State. It is not for me 
to say, dutt there was any thing improper in this nomination. 
But it was at the lime publicly alleged, and by a great por- 
tion of tlie people believed, that it was the result ofa corrupt 
bargain between them. Such was the public indignation on 
the subject that tile Senate of the United States, and Mr. Van 
Buren in particular, as the most prominent member of it, 
would have been fully justified by the people in rejecting thai 
nomination. But, true to the spiritof the constitution and the 
usage of die government, he declined to interpose objections, 
id voted for tile nomination. Mr. Clay is now a member of 
■ at Senate, and is one of that desperate triumvirate who 
"aused Mr. Van Buren' s rejection ! 

Prom tliia lilgn and exatusd station, rendered sail higher 
and more exalted by his integrity and his talents, Mr. Van 
Buren was called by the democracy of New York to preside 

chief magistrate over the destinies of his native state." 
Hip executive career was short but brilliant. He rose to that 
eminence, soon after die setting of diat splendid luminary 
that preceded him, and was surrounded by the light that still 
lingered on his path. None but talents of the highest order 
could have been brought into such palpable comparison, with- 
out suffering by the contrast. Bnt, it is no disparagement te 
h>i distinguished predecessor to say, that Mr. Van Buren 
fully sustained the high character of the station, which his 
genius and attainments had imparted to it. 

From this place he was soon called by General Jackson 
on assuming die administration of rhe general government to 
the honorable and responsible office of Secretary of State. 
But he left the impress of his genius upon our local institu- 
tions, and gave to our banking system a safety and security 
which cannot but be felt by generations yet to come. It was 
at the seat of die national government, in his new situation 
that he was destined to add to a reputation already beyond 
the reach of envy or of rival ambition.. He was now movine 
in a more extended sphere. He seemed to grasp, as by intif- 
ltion, die whole range, both of the domestic and foreign rela- 

f™» ,1 a Cm c M r y i and lt ma y with uu <h be s^id. that 
from the days of Jefferson to the present time, the arduous 



duties of that department were never discharged with more 
distinguished ability than by bun. Our foreign negotiations, 
which had lingered and (anguished under tile preceding ad- 
ministration, were revived and invigorated by the "master 
spirit" which now directed, under die guidance of an upright 
and single-minded President, the affairs of the nation. That 
system of diplomacy, the offspring of intrigue and 
.-■ gave place to plain and? 
manly dealing. IV attempted to accom- 

plish by indirection, was now accomplished by proceeding 
directly to the object in view. Tin- claims of our citizens on 
governments had* before this, been suffered to linger 

those citizens had almost relinquished, in d 

■ i- bringing them to a successful termination. 
No Booner did he assume the direction of them, than their 

had the proud satis- 
faction io see their rights asserted and their claims allowed 
in a mm Host sanguine expectation*. 
i oat settlement of our differences with Denmark and 
Brazil evinces the energy which had thus been infused in\p 
the Slate Department. 1' lal hud so long with- 
stood our demands for redress, for ■ on our com- 
merce under another dynasty, now yielded to the reasonable- 
nessof our claims, when presented! in the plain and simple 
garb of truth and justice. The amount which our govern- 
ment obtained i'o es of the claimants thera- 
od fir exceeded the amount at winch our minister at 
I .i.'h court, under the preceding administration, had 
liorised to settle. Under Mr. Van Buren's a 
too, a treaty with the Sublime Porte ha lnded,by 
which our commerce is extended to places where it never 
reached before. The American flag; winch had been fanned 
by every breeze in almost every sea, is now proudly waving 1 
viously unknown. Our Vessels now 
float on the sea of _M I their broad canvass 
I 
Not to weary' you, sir, with th,- repetition of what is well 
known to all who hear me, I pass over many questions be- 
tween us and foreign governments, which received the prompt 
attention of die Secretary, and the President under whom he 
acted, "id which were adjusted during his continuance in of- 
wliich were in a successful train of adjustment. 
I come now, sir, to our relations with Great Britain, in re- 
ference to which. bis instructions o, 1|, HcJVone, our late mi- 
it the Courtof St. James, have been called in question 
and have been ma tic tin pretended groundwork for his rejec- 
tion. For years, Messrs. Adams and Clay hod been endea- 
voring tu secure the trade of the Wis' Indies; but, by their 
over management and diplomatic arts, they had utterly failed : 
to accomplish this great object, so important to the commer- 
cial interests of tin country. They had superciliously refu- 
sed fair and honoraMc pi sitions from the British Govern- 

ment. And it was not, until 'bar government, disgusted with 
ncry, declined all farther negotiation, thai they 
were compelled to abandon their vain pretensions, and humbly 
ask the very privileges which had once been offered and de- 
clined. Our late minister, Mr. Gallatin, was instructed by 
Mr. Clay, then Secretary of State, to accede to the former 
proposition of thWJritish Government. But that Government 
tired of such a vacillating, time serving policy, rigidly adhe- 
ed to its former stand, and would noteven entertain the nego- 
tiation. It was for this, among other reasons, that the p°e- 
cedmg administration was hurled from power by an indig- 
nant people, and Gen. Jackson placed at the head of the go- 
vernment. On entering upon the duties of his office. Mr 
Van Buren forthwith set about recovering this important 
branch ot trade, which had been lost by Mr. Clay. With 
characteristic frankness he met the question. He commen- 
ced the negotiation in a plain business-like manner, as if he 
meant what he said, and said what lie meant. Unacquainted 
with the dissimulation, and despising the hypocricy, of courts, 
like an honest farmer, in making a bargain, he came right to 
1 the point. In respectful and proper terms, he told the British 
Government what we wished and what we would do. In his 
instructions to Mr. McLane, he said it was necessary to "enter 
into a particular defence of the omission on the part of the 
United States, seasonably to embrace the offer of the direct 
trade made by Great Britain in the year 1825, and to which al- 
lusion has so frequently been made. Whether it be a subject 
more of regret or censure, it ought to be enough that the 
claims advanced in justification of it have since been aban- 
doned by those who made them — have received no sanction 
from the people of the United States, and that they are not 
now revived." What else could he say 7 What less could 
he say, to satisfy that government, that, when we were asking 
them to open a negotiation which our own folly had closed) 
we did not intend again to trifle with them as they had been 
trifled with before .' This frankness on our part was met by 



acorreapon sontheira. The resull 

Ola America ipeople. T ii ci untry has been vastly ben 
hv ,i„ TheSi nate of die I 

atement by which 

were obtained— has confirmed tin; nominal! .1 Mr. Mc 

Lane, us Secretary of ilie Treasury, who was she negotia- 
tor in this matter, with discretionary powers, under the in- 
etroctionsof Mr. Van Burn ; and yet, unparalleled mjustieel 
has rejected the nomination of the man, through whose in- 
strumentality, and under whose direction, these advantages 
were secured ! . 

But. we arc told the wounded hrjnorof thecountry required 
this sacrifice— An ; [tracts, from Mr. Van Bui 

instructions, and mis-statement of facts, are put forth to the 
Community, as a justification of this outrage upon the feel- 
ings of the people, and ut iracter of the i nation. It 
time permitted mc to go into a detailed history of this whole 
transaction, I would tear from these vain pretenders the 
" tattered mantle of hypocrisy" that has been interposed to 
cover them. They talk of the wounded honor of th. ■ country. 
How cornea it, that this nice sense of national honor lias just 
heen roused? Where has it slept for two years past I In 
1830, a copy of these very instruct ions, about winch so much 
is said, together with the communications which passed be- 
tween Mr. McLane and the British governmen 
milled to both houses of congress— this very henate then 
added iu sanction to these instructions, by passing an act au- 
thorising theP to accept the "nude" and to open the 
ports, purse a ins offered by the instructions ami to 
Sbsmtnner in which they had , ■•« , not 
tliese patriots then apeak out 1 Why slumber upon this hu- 
miliating attempt, " to propitiate," in th, f Mr. 
Clav 4* favor of the Bnti h* " wa » 
Mr.' Webster', sense of "duty" 7- W ";■>«' 
upon these instructions, hie " mark o ' «»■ 
sX it is an after isguiae H as th, 
not give ,t c. l '"en anuetpat e th at J 
Van Buren would retire from the D nent of Ma 
Mcopt a mission to that curt, where his fame had al a .y 
preceded him.-They d "' ^X'^Z 
to wreck their vengeance on a man, whose only fault was, Uie 

p^Saio.... ;.:„£ 

MB. S 

ana iik m«i'"r „i„,;„„« l»>twecn the two governments. 1 
most embarrassing relations « l Y. c ) ' . s ,„ ( „/ nf seamen, 

mean (Ac ^/"•"J^tSS o/ll.e causes 

Th,s,:.u,iionU,eparto GreaBr 

holl: 

airous of • firmest 

Britain, on ' „V all others, the 

basis, Baled M \ •' B.tP-n as. ? H 
beatcalcu. 

in a mor ,' „' -„ delicate a subject.— 

No. , of, he most 

Hl " e tcr and ' ' r* ra " 

aggravaud and want . n, c 

PO . „f this crusade against 

pro. untry, 


Clav mi • 

r with die i 

thel 

to '•■■ « ISK, 

wi. 

thus I 



regard to the two latter, he has been Btici I the di 

i ended for ihc former, has fallen on hiniBclf— an ft 
unprincipled combination ever known i 
anient 
tins stab was not aimed at Mr. Van Burca alone; 
I President himself, through one 

high in his confidence. It was inti 

bat one of the most important measures of Ins administra- 
tion a measure, the which would have thrown 

far into the shade the temporising policy of his predecessor, 
and would have added a civic wreath to that blow, already 

.i .... ..!...< X.e- it .],., oiii Kfr.i. here ft 



and wouiu nave uui,™ w wt« «■-...... ... ...... ...v.-, .... — -, 

covered with military glory. Nay, it did not atop here. Ii 
w(lBU ,, few-York. Yes, sir, at die "great 

State" the "empire Stale"— an attempt to prostrate the de- 
mocracy of the Siate, by prostrating her favorite son. Let 
mvesof diat democracy, spe-k in a 

loncuagcnot too.' misunderstood. Let tin v i IV »-iofk 

be heard nfar— let ub rally as one man— let oil minor differ- 
mighty effort to sun;, in ,,. i dignity, 
and vmdicatchei or— let her v 01 ce be heard from 

i a : lei it echo along thcynllcv ol the Mis- 

sissippi and n M ri. By driapervorn, "'*«•- 

al rower, our den, : , our very h- rues ar< i invn- 

deu. Leiuethen rally i on nd the standard of democracy, ana 
eay" with the brave Gustavus Vuao, 

II ,.■ will we take our eland ! 
"Here on the brink, tie- very wuc uf liberty! 
" JJihough contention rise upon the clouds, 
" Mix heave,, with earth, and roll die ruin onward, 
■•Han will wa li.v, an d breast us to die slwck. 

GREVT PUBMl MBBVn« IN ALBANY. 

At die retroestof the Democratic Republican General Com- 

aiueewgeherwi.h the call of several of our moat diaun- 

h one of the largest and moat Bspeeuv- 

'',;;'/ ... ,„eaBed in this city was held in 

B&l, on Saturday evening, the 4th February, 

"The meeting was called tOJ ■a***** fSJSTKJ 

Svvfobu, wl?o nominated the venerable SIMEON DB 

WITT Surveyor General of this State, as Chairman of the 

!, . Vfhonv Blanchard, Esq nominated John N. 

C&. .■ E vr..W«»?m a. Secretaries totho 

r. C.ir.svr.R, Beq. briefly and pertinently explained 

K'^L^ion of '^Teeiu PPn the Chair- 

lor tneconsiu fn , lo . vlll „ Cunmuttee :— Benjamin Know- 

,. , , P. &£*, Samuel Cheever, Anthony Dlai.rl.ard 

1 and reported, 
| -owing resolution.: 

: mbl.can citizen, of Albany, feeling them-.lv 



\vnir I 
Hartfnl I 



H 

pra-- 



I 

oi; has 



. Rimiblicon citizens of Albany, leeimg ..-„,->.-..■•- 

m ,, MARTIN 

, ,,rt,-and ha- 

" «tio. anaet 

-nh-ttot ,:'Mar!'v"n 

esU of the country, B 

""' r V ~. e^n.iderthe person, by whom, and ihe 

-'■ Tl . :. ccomrUeA we cannot 

manner in WTU oistieatrdby adeairetogra- 

■■ 
.', ol , ]frtl of the m.Mion to 

,1s of the nation. nliMlii 

reason owig' 
wit, that the in.tiuci 

oi'in ion 
wehX 

err. d to. 
tl 

the |1<:> .^^^^BS 

UO0B of the late l"' ^. 1 ™^ ^, ^ 

: 
. 

I i the judgeui' 

rhnracte..- 
,, ihe tran»nes» » „^f y nlt cmi- 

,.,wasnot only r'oi«"n «""• 



- - ■ 
dero- 
piiuon of In. 
. believe that 

1 upon die act. and 
io that trade, 
:he American 

. «.«„imI h. 

e. of 



eeiine, it i.mora^** - 

than to i ."jr. 1 

, rhBractensed the in- 



e 



nently calculated to effect the important ends in reference to 
which tliey were framed, end winch were ultimate! 
ed upon tennB honorable to lioth nations, and highly benefi- 
cial to ourselves. 

6. That our confidence in the patriotism, integrity and ta- 
lents of the statesman by whose instructions that result \va« 
principally produced, is' undiminished; and that while we 
deeply lament the national degradation involved m die recent 
display of party rancor and personal hostility towards him, 
we confidently rely on the intelligence and virtue of the 
American people, and especially of the peoj-ieof Ncw-1 oik, 
for his defence and vindication. 

Resolved, That conies of the foregoing resolution 1 
milled to the President of the United Suites and the Hon. 
Martin Van Kurcn, and that a Committee of thirteen persons 
be appointed for that purpose. 

After which, Adjutant General Dix, James King, James 
M'Kown, Recorder of the city, Benjamin F. Butler and John 
L. Viele, addressed the meeting. 

The resolutions were then adopted with acclamation and 
Immense cheering. 

John I. Burton, Esq, then moved that a committee be ap- 
pointed to transmit copies of the proceedings of this mi 
to the President of die United States, and to the Hon. Maruo 
Van Bur.u. Whereupon die Chairman nominated thi ' l- 
lowing committee, viz.: Silas Wright, jr. Krnstus Coming, 
Win. Gould, Peter Gansevoort, James King, James Porter, 
James Campbell, jr. Samuel S. Fowler, Peter Seton Henry, 
Alexander Marvin, John 1. Burton, Garret Gates, Albert 
Ryckman. 

Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting, with such 
sketches of the addresses as can be obtained, be published in 
the Albany Argus and in pamphlets. 

Resolved, That diese proceedings be signed by the Chair- 
man and Secretaries. >* ■ 

SIMEON DE WITT, Chairman. 

John N. Quackenbush, > Sec . rys _ 
Pktbb Wendell, 5 

From ths Augusta (Maine) Age. 
. The following proceedings in a State which more than any 
other knows the value of the Colonial Trade, which is behind 
none in devotion to the Union, and would spurn the man who 
would compromise the honor or dignity of the country, are 
given as additional proof of die light in which the conduct el- 
Mr. Van Buren is viewed, wherever prejudice and political 
feeling are not permitted to bias the judgment. 
THE VOICE OF THE DEMOCRACY OF MALM".. 
We now present our readers, and the public, with th» pro 
ceedhio-s of the Legislative Convention of Democratic Re- 
publicans, holden in this town [Augusta] on Tuesday evening 
last. The proceedings of the adjourned meeting, to be holden 
this evening, will be given hereafter. 

These proceedings exhibit throughout a most cheering re- 
presentation of the unanimity which pervades the republican 
party at large in this State. The democracy of Maine will 
travel forward, one mind and one purpose, in support of the 
great fundamental principles of republican freedom and 
equality, and in support of those men only who are devoted 
to the support of them. 

The attachment of the people of this State to the National 
Administration continues to wax mighty and to triumph ; 
and amid all the variety of combinations which opposition to 
itmay assume. Maine will prove true tothe old Hero, and 
to all those who are true to his republican virtues, and with- 
out speculating on consequences. Her voice on the hold as- 
sault upon his administration by the rejection of Mr. Van Bu- 
ren is now heard, and will not be re-called. In concert 
her sister Republicans, Maine is ready to do her duty — she 
will never, we trust, be tound otherwise, whatever can be 
oone honorably, to repair the injury inflicted upon the honor 
of the nation, through the repeated malfeasances of her mino- 
rity Senators in Congress, will be done with a free and good 
will. But we detain our readers from the promised proceed- 



bcrsof the Legislature be called, and twenty one Senators and 

hundred and ten Representative?, being a majority of 

both branches of the I. nswered to their names. 

On motion of Mr. Meguire, of the S mate, 

A Committee of ten, consisting of one from each county, 

was raised, to take into consideration what measures should 

e>ted by this Conv. ore a representation of 

tie' Convention to be 

i die purpose of nonuna- 

candidatefoi I S Pi ol tl • I nited Slates, 

expressive of the aentimentsof this 

Convention in relation to the i" - nt National Administra- 

'•II and Smith, of 

and Messrs. White, Clifford, Jarvis, Knowlton, 

Mi , B ele, of the House, were chosen. 

Th ' appointed to draft resolutions, reported the 

following: — 

Resolved, That the u I success attending our 

Commercial consequent improvement ex- 

her interests of the coun- 



try, atford ample evidence of die distinguished wisdom and 
ability with which tie- government lias been conducted under 



ingB :— 

At a Convention of the Democratic Republican members of 
the Legislature of the State of Maine, holden according to 
previous public notice, in the Representatives Chamber, on 
Tuesday the 21st day of February inst. Hon. Robert P. Dun- 
lap, President of the Senate, was called to the Chair, and 
Rowland H. Bridgham, of the Senate, and John P. Lord, of 
the House of Representatives, were chosen Secretaries. 

Jt waa then voted, that the names of the republican mem- 



. f Andrew Jackson; that increased confi- 
dence and gratitude are due to him, who ''having filled the 
measure of Tiie country's glory," is now exerting all the ener- 
lind to promote its honor and prosperity, and that 
ort him for re-election to the Presidency of the 

Resolved, That there is in this state an active andperse- 
- minority, who are attempting to fasten upon the 
country a system and policy whicn, we believe, will be sub- 
versive of the public interests, and ruinous to the prosperity 
of the nation, and that u is therefore, the imperative duty of 
the friends of our republican institutions, in opposing the dan- 
gerous echemea of such minority, to spare nothing of vigi- 
and exertion, to act in concert in all public elections, 
and to endeavor by concentrated effort and energy, to sui lain 
i preserve the integrity of the Union. 
Resolved. Thai we approve of th.- i , fiha 

Republicaiis of a sister Suite, for a Convention of Democra- 
tic Republican di ■: Baltimore, in May next, 
for the purpose of nominating a candidate for the office of 
Vice-President of thi I 6. ai i that this Convention, acting 
in behalf of the demoerary of Maine, designate delegates to 
attend that Convention. 

Resolved, That the rejection by the Senate of die United 
States of die nomination of Martin Van Buren, as Minister 
I otentiary to Greut Britain, finds no justification or ex- 

iii the reasons assigned for that extraordinary measure; 
that it appears to have been effected by a combination, acting 
under the impulse of party prejudice, personal jealousy and 
pointed ambition, compromising the character of the 
Senate, reflecting disgrace upon die government, jeopardizing 
the interests of the country, and the amicable relations exist- 
tween our own and a foreign government, delaying 
the adjustment of matters important to the preservation or 
i and harmony among nations, nnd disregardin» and set- 
ting; at defiance, public opinion. 

Resolved, That the Senators in Congress from this State, 
by entering into that combination, ha-ve acted contrary to the 
opinion and wishes of a-great majority of the people ofMamo, 
and have thereby, as we believe, violated their duty to their 
constituents, and forfeited all claim to public confidence. 

Resolved, That nothing lias transpired to lessen that confi- 
dence m die wisdom and patriotism of Martin Van Buren. 
which has been created by his eminent public services, ana 
especially by the able, correct, and efficient jiart, performed 
by him m aid of die President's successful endeavors to restore 
Commercial prosperity to the nation; and that in the opinion. 
of this Convention, his elevation to the VICE PRESl- 
DESC Y, would be highly gratifying to the people of this 
State, and tend to.improve the d'ignity and ehavacter of an. 
important branch of the government. 

Signed by 21 members of the Senate, and 112 members of 
the House of Representatives. 

On motion of Mr. Thayer of the Senate. 
I oted, That a committee of one from each county bo raised 
for the purpose of selecting delegates to attend the Conven- 
tion to be holden in Baltimore in May next — and die follow- 
ing persons were appointed .that Committee: Messrs. Thay- 
er and Groton of the Senate, and Messrs. Shaw, Fish, Pierce, 
Springer, Dyer, Bean, and Robinson, of die House. 
Voted, To adjourn, to Tuesday evening next. 



ROBERT P. DUNLAt^ Ghajrtoan, 
Rowland H. Bkidbham, " 



John P. Lord, 



■ Secretaries. 



io 



REMARKS <>!• GEI< I>IX. 

At n meeti ig of ! i" R ' ' 

s , Fell 4. in relation loth* rejection of the 

nomine UARTOS < IN BURET*. 

Mr Chairman — I-am sure I take the feeling* of 

t j, 16 Audience when! " f Mr. Van Buren 

l, v ,|,. Senate of theTlni S Sinister P ni| otentiery 

hi a univei 
of tndi [nation i 

thatdiMingt o, and of shame for the violated di 

oldie country. Knowing as I do t > • • • deep sensibility which 
pervades nil clwaeaof citizens, excepting thoet who** preju- 
dices or hostility or.' too powerful for their sense of justice, I 
should hav r satisfied if die responsibility of open- 

ing this meeting hod fallen io other end ablsi hands. I'nr- 
ticlnating, however, ns 1 do strongly, in the general senti- 
ment, I did not feel B( liberty to di cum the tank; end in un- 
dertaking it, I only hope that I may be fbUowed by other* 
who win supply what I may omit. Others, nt lens- 
rtTt . < v , nger and more fumilinr intercourse with Mr. 

\ Buren. have a better claim imony 

io the uprightness and purity of hja Of I ispub- 

lic nets and character, no citizen of this Stair — no citi 
the United States— however n mote from the theatre of his 
uiefn int. Hi« set iilafly 

rendered while he was Si • I Sti 
emphatica] 
the power of ln j 

j, c m i] of ih ir value, it is loo late, I 1 1 

io turn aside the rich cnm nt of 
from them. It v. t claims of m 

vidual tosaythat Mr. Van Buren was, in tie' lal 
Gen. Jackson, hie nd influential adviser: to him or 

in no ineoni 

ond successful policy in our negotiations with foreign 
tries under which the oi risen, ana is stilisot 

ine tonne in th« 
whelming •**>»* of hm super* 
Ihe leetimonial of public opinion, could have an 
him a combination "f pal k Ms, numbering as many 

creeds as men, differing with eiu h othi r on i 

, v. ,'li each i 

personnl relations— united m nothing but a rmn i 

to overthrow a dangerous rival in the confidence of U 
pie 



It is well known ilia' this is tin- first instance in the history 
„f ihe i r." mnfiit, in which the nomination of a ministi 
UiePn-sitl""' has been rejected by the Sen 
on the duties of hi* office. Thi Pi 

Consumiion with ihe n t of our rekuiont with 

foreign States: and it has alwi tnathe 

should as tie responsible person, have the selection of hu 
> v,l and exlraordrnoiv was this rase, tl 



D during the last six years, than our negotiations with 
Great II ilain on the subject of our Dommercial intercourse 
with her Wt si fn lio Colonies. The unexpected interdiction 
on Ihe part of thai power in the year 1826, of all direct com- 
ntunicalion with them, gave io the subject a deeree of nn- 
ll to the magnitude of the interests at stake, 
the constant aim of Mr. Adams and Ins political 
friends to make that interdiction uppeor as a van- 

| unprovoked hostility to Ihe United States. He had 
liarged with die directioi of lhat negotiation as secre- 
i 1S17 lo 1925; its failure was ral- 
lied diseredit upon his intents ns a statesman 
and diplomatist, and lo involve in the same reproach the rha- 
who had sustained him and given countenance 
to his measures. The only complete At ft ice for them wasio 
setup the imputation of hostility on the part of Great Britain. 
There was much inn review of die previous relations of tire 
Iwo countries, which was calculated to produce anfria 
jmnre - regard to the intention* of die other. On our 

side tin re was more cans..- fur sensitiveness than on hers. We 
had been for years engaged in esigry coln/nons with her, in 
one of which uhe was the aggressor. We had finally 
rum, and obtained by toire theredress which had 
been denied to reason and justice. In nil this we had done 
and determim Tli* 

m upon ihe hnmediate cm fee which 
■ nurse with the British West 
India! On, was not k-ss 

honorable to our jui ir previous 

10 OOr resolution and firmness. A review of 

the history of her colonial reeuuvi any nnpn- 

, of hostility on this point wu groundless. 
bad applied tout the same restricuons which (he had applied 
to ouier countries. Indeed, thsmsUure ol the case was sue* 
ns to repel such an iinpuintioii. In the regunlioa of their 
commercial intercourse, nationsare guided by views, often 
naraow and mistaken, of their own interests: mid in this rose, 
if her colonial policy had been framed witha view to uupnir 

ou rests, »he could only have prosperity 

I inflicted on her own. Butttappee* 
r ,\ ,|, ... - -e of die revolutionary 

w.-n, n gradual course ol relaxation of ihe roles, which hod 

eotnim renii intercourse with her colonics. At 
the close of thai contest, when our separation from the itoinin 
i Great Britain woe rendered complete f a formal 
v. :. dgement 61 our indei end< nee, hei nit' m on su im- 

■ 

I thus se) orated from her, end those « 

still acknov, ' "'is oljert, 

- ablislied principles of her colonial sytl forced 

Bjrainsl us as Ihej wereagainst other nati nelv 

i is of the British | arlinn in the fnl- 



Certait ei umerated articles, tin. 

,,,„. - . es, were allowed to be imported 

confidently expected by many that n removal of the in- , n!01 | ic British Wc II' T'S 

would exhibit sol ildnol carry then own produce 



agents. 

VII 

s ■' i i • '" imported 

■l hasexhihited no such thing: irtiaeoTscloscd noUnng of which m iteT0WB bottoms, wore specified by jiroclamations, which 
iBonublicwerenotalroadyappfised— nothing winch has not al- 
resit been pronounced noon By the judgment of tho pe, 

I, i, true, we are informed by I r withhold U. The 

t Mr. Van Buren, . ..red, but did '- The 

d„ C ed into ih. Senate oniredirted 1 . rm vnsio subject our mtrrcourw with those 

-hole tenor of his lift -imputations sustained by no proof- , , f the Kll c 1 

ration 



disreimtahl- 

r,...n!r..»» »'"'»" 

nur t ' 

aver see thi willbeindigi i 

fi ¥ , y lie their political predilection*) as 

rage to juste-- 



f the Ihrec. branches 

V. .►.. »c, „r9H 
was hr ti 

coin 



i 

„ HI eh 6, hv virtue nf which I 

VV. 1 . - ■ 

, .uher of a pnhlie or private a standing 

i ,.,,-ns »]•■ ' '■ ' "as not 

^.he tenor of Ins ,„,-,. Io Mr. Me) 

'■ ■ Britain, in ;. 



lation 
^ India tnule. 



I 



,i ■ ■■ ' ■ |:iiiiii .,.»..-. . 

hv th* ' 

re ; and ithed been showt 

I instrue- 



nol 

: .-rma- 

illled 



which was 

|. , deemed 

1 II w en. 






• 

public 
by die s 

■ 
to the M - i . . .lun^g, 

drawn 6 .nseeptililc of n If ( |: 

rrfutaiiyn But M thi* i* the eole ground of his rejection, it 
will be^aspernrilftj io mqnir. into icsmnrila 

,.. p.rtj.p*. no subject which ),.. excited more dr.- I M ^'' A dam. ' ' ^ « lT,u1l •« to "• 



t PVlb- 

of trt« 

[See 

3, urvil numi 
«4 ftl- 

irttcr- 
ly do- 
,-onry 

!l«UfS 



11 



temis undur the expectation of obtaining (in what manner 
Will be seen) others still more bo, forced the British Govern- 
ment into the position referred to.— It will appear also that a 
new principle (at ull events.a principle never before avowed) 
governed our policy on that question while it was under the 
management of Messrs. Clay and Adams. 

It ib a remarkable circrxmstance, thai on il c 9th Feb. IBIS 
the committee of Foreign Relations in the House of Re 
taiivvs (the first Congress after tl rgnniwtlinn of Mr. Mon- 
roe's Cabinet) reported m -favor of additional Fsstriojio b upon 
the colonial intercourse of Great Britain with us; and, in as- 
rounds of their rec in referred 

iment marked F. which had beerl fun 
by Mr. Adams as Secretary of State. Mr. Adams also refer- 
red Co n himself in a lettei to Mr. Rush, dated 23d June 1823, 
while the latter was minister to Great Britain, and distinctly 
pointed his attention to it as a guide. The position assumed 
by that paper and Bought to be maiqtained by a long and ela- 
borate argument is contained in the following query : — "Can 
'■ Great Britain support her Weal [ndia Colon iea in comfort, 
** or even in safety, without supplies from the 1 - dStati - " l 
— to whirl i it in confidently answered, and the grounds of the 
opinion assigned, that "*lv cannot;" and the cone 
very legitimately drawn that we could prescribe our own 
terms wuli her. This position affords a clue to the whole 
course of policy pursued by Mr. Adarns and Mr. Clay on that 
subject. Believing that td mt on an 

intercourse with us, they were willing to gain credit for ability 
as statesmen and negotiators hy availing themselves of the 
neceBRities of Great Britain, and insisting on advantages 
which they should have seen could never he obtained. As 
soon as the policy, of which that naperwas the ground-work 
was understood, it became the subject of on animated discu- 
•ion in the British Parliament. 

Mr. Huskisson on the floor of the House of Commons in 
the year 1825, said he was persuaded an impression existed 
on our part that Great Britain had yielded that intercourse to 
necessity, and that, as her colonies could not subsist without 
ft, we might prescrilie the conditions under which it should 
be carried on; and he concluded by recommending counter- 
acting measures. This was the language "I" the man. who 
ofal! others in Great Britain had most ardently and 
VOOated a relaxation of her colonial restrictions, who was re- 
proached by the monopolists with die design of overthrowing 
the established order of things, and of B systemof 

entire freedom in commerce. When the most liberal, if not 
the most enlightened statesman in Great Britain spoke in 
language so unequivocal, it is not surprising that the act of 
interdiction referred to, was resorted to during the fo 
year. That Mr. Clay was a party to the course of policy 
which tlmr measure was designed to counteract, is apparent 
from the fact that he was a member of Mr. Adams' 
more than a year while it was steadily persisted in, and that 
ho had. uniformly sustained it on the floor of Congress. 

Such was the character of the policy, by moans of which 
these giants in diplomacy proposed, not to gain by reasoning 
and argument, but to coerce a power on friendly terms with 
us, to concede what could only be, obtained on the ground of 
her necessities. That the grounds on which they had placed 
their demands were in their own estimation untenable, is ai - 
parent from the tVt that Mr. Gallatin was sent out in the 
year 15(26 with instructions to abandon them and Co accede to 
certain propositions made by the British government in the 
year L824— -the most favorable ever offered for our acceptance 
- but declined until that time, either from a culpable neglect 
of the public interests, or, what is more probable, an expecta- 
tion of obtaining greater advantages. It is not to be doubted 
that this change of policy was the result of a conviction on 
their part, at which they had however arrived too late, that 
the position assumed in document F could not be maintained, 
and that if they would not agree to share with Great Britain 
the trade with her West India colonies on reasonable terms, 
she would find means to dispense altogether with our direct 
agency in supplying them. If the position were founded in 
reason and justice, it ought not to have been abandoned; if it 
had not such a foundation, then had Messrs. Clay and Adams 
been insisting for years on concessions which could not be 
obtained, and which we ought not to have demanded. Mr. 
Clay says in his apology to the Senate for his vote against 
Mr. Van Buren, that we had, during two administrations pre- 
vious to that ef Mr. Adams, preferred the same claims. The 
difference between his statement and the fact is, that we had 
previously to Mr. Monroe's administration sought as a privi- 
lege, (aye, sir, as a privilege — the term runs through the 
whole history of our negotiations on the subject) what Messrs. 
Clay and Adams had demanded as a right. The instructions 
addressed to previous negotiators were to obtain if they could 
the privilege of introducing our staples into the British West 



India markets, on the same terms as similar productionsuf the 
British coloniea-^-thoae framed under the direction of Mr. Ad- 
ams and Mr. Clay, to insist on it as a "sine qua noil" of a de- 
finitive ai rang* mient. 

The propositions of the British commissioners consisted of 
five articles, the 1st of which provided that our trade with the 
open ports of their West India and North American colonieSj 
continued; thai all discriminating charges find du- 
ties reciprocally imposed and levied on the vessels of each 
ts of the other should be abd> 
Is lawfully im- 
ported in them, no other or hi mage or impost 
Bhould be exacted, than upon British vessels and goods un- 
to those ports from ai ' The 
at each party should remove, as soon A 
itiooal duties of to i light of foreign 
d i.l all additional duties of impost in the light 
of duties on goo h and all other 
discriniii: The 3d article provided, 
that in cai ed agreements should be found to opo- 
: i, on representation of the other, 
examine the matter of complaint, and if found to !•-■ just, 
h measures to redress the grievance as to se- 
ondition of r 

tension of aay Further privi- 
leges, wi. i to iny friendly state, 

arty upon the footing 
lost favored Siate. The 5th article provided for the 
nent of consuls, cVe. This proposal, besides holding 
out the pn berfai every thing we 

asked exo sting her 

trade between her colonies and, herself, and between one of 
her colonies and another. 'I I this reservation, as 

avowed by Great (Britain, was V ei ''the sta- 

ples of her own subjects by levying impost duties on like 
productions of a foreign country. To surrender this right 
would have excluded lie productions of her North American 
colonies from her West India Islands. By comparing the fa- 
i ilitias above offered for our acceptance, with the condition of 
our intercourse with the British West Indies for several years 
after the close of the n war, and even after the 

passage of the act of 28, Geo. III. eh. 6, it will be perceived at 
a glance that the coloniaj system had been exceedingly relax- 
ed, if it was not even in a gradual course of abandonment I 
dtogi thar the acl of Parliament of 1R25, offering 
certain conditions in case of their ac i all countries; 

ms Mi. Clay says we never received any official notice of it — 
and place the mismanagement of Hessrs. Adams and Clay on 
lunds above stated. 

The propositions referred to were received a short lime be** 
took into their hands the affairs of government but 
they were not acted on until 1826. Mr. Roths King « 
out to Great Britain in 1825 With full instructions on other 
subjects, but without any on this, the most important of all. 
.(See Mr. Clay's letter to Mr. Gallatin, 19th June, 1926. It 
was not, in fact, until the day, on whichThis letter hears date, 
that any definitive measures were adopted on this subject. On 
that day Mr. Gallatin was despatched with instructions to 
waive tne demand, all along made by his employers, of the 
admission of our productions Into the British West India ports 
on the same terms as similar productions of her North Amei* 
ican colonies, and to accede substantially to the propositions 
of the British Plenipotentiaries, over which they had linen 
dozing nearlytwo years. Before the arrival of Mr. Gallatin 
in England, an order in council was issued, bearing date the 
27th July, 1826, by which all intercourse between us and the 
British. West India islands was interdicted, and that govern- 
ment utterly refused to negotiate further with the administra- 
tion of Mr. Adams on the suhject. The whole course of this 
negotiation was exceedingly discreditable to those who had 
conducted it. It was, to say the least, an act of the most pal- 
pable impolicy to urge pretensions, the justice of which was 
at all questionable, at a moment when Great Britain, by 
meeting us on the long avoided ground of negotiation, and 
by materially relaxing her restrictions, had given evidences 
of more liberal views in relation to the colonial trade. 

The attempt made on the floor of the Senate to divert from 
Messrs. Adams and Clay the responsibility of adhering for 
years to a course of measures, which they subsequently 
abandoned, by making it appear as a part of the settled policy 
of t the country, is as fruitless as every other attempt which 
has been made to defend the united mismanagement erf those 
individuals. It was part of the settled policy of the country 
only from the time that they successively obtained a contiol- 
ing influence in the public councils. And it certainly re- 
ports as ill of the shrewdness as of the equity of thetpposition, 
to hold I\tr. Van Buren responsible for hi? acts as Secretary 
of State, and to insist on the release of Messrs. Adams and 



12 



Clay from all rtsnonsihlity for their act* in the same official ca- 
pacity. If usnimed in behalf of those 
gentlemen be tenable, then to the rejection of fir. Van Buren 
nn act of the most palpable injustice. 

i ider the circumstances obev G< n. Jackson 

became President of the United Sutt&tj and the question im- 
mediately aio*<- * to the manner, in which this long MM 
ed nil i Em disposed of. It had I 

the party) which elevated Gen. Jackson to power — in 
■words, by nn overwhelming majority of the people of the 
United Stoles — that the drmandsof the previous administra- 
tion ought not to lie insisted on. The language of Mr. W.h- 
ster, though not altogether unequivocal, is understood as ad- 
mitiing that this subject had been passed on by the public 
judgment. Any other supposi . vth.r erro- 

is in point of (act, by ossumiug i I 

roJly discussed, and cuually false in t] implication 

that it was a subject too abstruse for the popular unuefttand- 
mg. Those who are in the habit of mingling with tri- 
ple will feel the futility of any ■ appear as a 
tmuter not examined and passed upon by them. There is no 
exaggeration in saying tun: it was n topic of discussion in 
every State in the Union, m une lentlm of the public jour- 
nals, and ar the places of el cnon in L826; that the , 
took a miK > vu-x of the errors i ous ad- 
ministration "ii that question, than those who administered 
the government had taken of the interests and policy 
country; and that tl was one of the leading causes or the re- 
8u It of the election. The chni . and the expected 
chang "f r i asures, w re as well untleratood abroad as they 
■were at home: nnd it was well known tool the causes of ir- 
ritation on the (<irt of Great Britain ware intimately COD 

itb men a* m i The only qu 

therefore, in what manner negotiation should be resumed, 

SI Id we, in case the nccoteity fi t H should arise, distinctly 

disavow, the acts of the previous 

G i, Jackson, in hohali ricon people, wrap him- 

self nip in the mantle of diplomacy, oj 

worthy only of those who defend it, leave any room by hia si- 
lence to call in question our sentiments on Tlic 
frank and manly course was ad 

stained, by the ncople of I ■ i 
The embarrassm a the 

fruit of ■ mismanaged 

of tv. i, who had be Uy spurned » 

peopl* 1 from the public trusts wlt'icli 

thamj and it wni l-rium 

upon i':oih which itcami \ 

Mr. Van Buren in his 1 ion as should havs 

l>ern said, Mr. ioTcLane was b it ihi uld be- 

10 refer to the arts I 

preceding administrations on that qn< 
The passogei in I f instruction, upon wnii 

• 
in tiro pn ceding ad minis) * 

bceip ■ rican people; that their } i 

sion* were not r» vived by thi ir succ< sso •; atstl tl si [t~ those 
art§ and pretensions should be. set up by the British trot- 
rrnvirnt as abartolhc a '.ug difficult 

w-eii. duty of M M I ifaraspos- 

! 10 the 

character ol course lh< 

i n the 
jwlgi > icpH upon ths administration of Mr. \ 

-i if nreeesnry, he .'.■ Mhos-* 

wiir.se lending maxim is to ask nothing which 
and to lubmit tn nothing which is wronc A dirTerani course 
WOSJ Id have been a virtual endor-^ment of errors and abuser, 
which Gen. Jackson was eleeti 

frankness and plain dealing of Orn. Jackson in all his public 

ae'«*r» m harmony with hti own character, with the charnc- 

eopb of theUnuad States, and with the genius of 

our pohucn . It has l 



nil that we have a»ked; an<: 

th* worhi, bv exhibiting lb) 

rbicintf 

rtom, and acting upon ih* tar 

• 



I it hss 

n mtro- 
uth foi 

BIS, which should 

ividuali m their 
personal relation* wiih each other. 

of remark that tn* mam posWon assumed by 
Administration is, I M von Burrn 
r 

■ 
*d from ssritimen's • . ■ 

to have r in ihe eonsequenoei lie act, by 



which they Proposed to mires* the injury— condemning, is 

the face or the whole world an important ai itmenl bT ths 

P two highest branches of thegovern- 

r,ond opening a scene unpamj- 
istoryl If it was incumbent on them to redress 
ofwhich they con i was equally incumbent 

i sort to a corrective, which should not be rjcJnted 
i moral far more degrading to us as a nation khan that 
which, upon their own representation, it was intended to 
■ ract. 
Tin ideo presented by Messrs. Webster and CIsv, that Gen. 
- 1 Mr. Van Bun - tions, hunv 

bled hims-df at the foot uf tho British throne, is, to say the 
but a sorry compliment to the intelligence of use Asneri- 
It was, j crimps, not to be expected that gentle- 
to rely for die accomplishment of rcsulit, 
B skilful uscof the weaponsofdipluiiinev, should us cm- 
fable of doing justice to an honorable frankness which dis- 
aatns them. But that Geo. Jaskson, erect as he 

D and the world, wilh all his historical 1 
associations about him, in an attitude of dignitv which only 
ii bsfon ! in Ins been able to assume— thai such a 
nin ] 1 si .'» reputation or Ins own, by 

casting off the missrabls guises of d^lomacv, is drawing 
rather to« presumptuously even upon ths ersiiuhty of tkwir 
foUownrs. 

The ioIs ground aPBir^netl by the opposition in the Serais, for 

rejecting the nomination of M'r. Van Hum., ia, itiai he wms the 

nuthoi .-utamodintheiiistnictionstoMr. Mr- 

, Lane. And this is a ground which t underourgOTernrrH Di t eannol 

be rnnsri rained. With up. ti- President is responsible for all 

ailnoiing from m em ber s of his eabinet, sspe 
i tlios.; wiih foreign Ms • C 

. thalBir.VanBurenissok 
i sponsible for these mstrun ions, his defence might safely be rest- 
i already Assigned. Butsssum 
u ', which !k, thathc has been heUradrrxnunbleasofl 
a of communication with the Bri'. ' - 

sou contained inhii mstructionstobe, si 
.•iisrepiuiblc lotheeharactsr of the e, i, 
then i I individual at the leal of iha treasu- 

ry dej locedtheraby the votsofthsr-smmenien trim 

Mr. Vnn Burer emially culpnhje, as 

;l.e immediate ornan of communication with that sro- 
Bnf. If lio who lends himself to th« communication of 
is as worthy of condemnation at ha 
tyutieTsthenL Mr. M Lar.eahishM, upon err T r 
■ rlnoVd in ths sen) 
M \ *.. BurssL 1 
any distil cti( n Was laken Iwtv i | to 1 e trru-ed 

pinerri t re'aiioi 3 ui der which i the authors ol 

etion. 
Tl *• Jackson had an important agency in 

* Tho senumsnti 

Ifr. \ r 
■ 
natun . • - ,...] osttior. It « 

for the arts of his 

ie who 

! at the gn ui. don winch they 
■ ■ rharacter, r>( K rlv Cm 

<> im- 
pair ti .'_•'■ 1' - e, by 
nrm\ Senate, on 
his re 1 this i« nol an uncharuabls infer 
ismopifesl fiom the fart, thrt some of the principal eboiac- 
'ers of the drama are thens who have, through all tieisai- 
Hides, ■• -es- 
g his piblic and r>r .-h the Cmileit as* 
, fersic ^; and whose followers i th» 
I maliL: rtuary of his do- 
mestic | eace. They have fomented dissentions m his cssbnssf, 
I embarrass"d his ad m in si * mensurrs, 
ive finaJlv r; ^n open de- 
. inon of one of ).is most s ntml advi- 
se rs. Then' is not in th- ■■ flagrant an 
1 instn: nenssi n> ii will iw pr«v 
» rrw It 
-p^dnTiey ; ii ' "d by i o eorsideration of 
I it does rot accomplish the poor \ ur* 
posr of in authors, of bringing down to their om*n level an in- 
lual far above <hesn inthe aiU-ibut.es of public and private 
\ irtue. 

ns acton • oi-tun, tn those 

n to take no 

partui if. The presiding nfRcer of the Senate, and his new 



13 



coadjutor from the West— he who had failed successfully to 
impeach the two individuals affected by his vote before the 
tribunal of the country, and he whose failures asa statesman 
and diplomatist, had been redeemed by the superior powers 
of his successor, stand in the foreground of the coalition.— 
Into this singular alliance, a new and equally unnatural aux- 
iliary has entered. Who could have supposed that he who 
has teen denominated, (how appropriately, let his co 
this question testify) " the god-like man," should abandon 
himself to the dominion of the terrestrial attributes of his 
character, by becoming a party to so inglorious an entexpi isi 
Mr. Webster, the opponent of Mr. Van Buren, too, from ele- 
vated considerations of duty ami a tender sensibility to the 
public honor ! Where, if we may presume to inquire, were 
these elevated considerations anil 'this tender sensibility at a 
time, when the very safety of the country w.ts m imminent 
peril ' Let the history of the country furnish the reply ! — 
The gentleman might hove bei n seen declaiming on the floor 
of Congress aga nut the justice of the war, resisting flic ap- 
propriation of money and men to sustain n, and presenting an 
example of insensibility, the more powerful from bitacknow- 
ledged talents, to all those elevated considerations of public 
duty, to which he is now so " tremblingly alive." Nay, sir, 
so strong were his convictions, thai be was anxious to trans- 
mit to his children his hostility to the war, asihr most valua- 



charge a duty. I am nut to go through a formality, I am 
to perform a substantial and responsible duty. I am to atf- 
risL the President in matters of appointment. This is my 
I ttional obligation ; and I shall perform it conscientious- 
ly and fearlessly. I am bound to say then, sir, that for one,- 
I do not advise nor consent to this nomination. I do not think 
it a fit and proper nomination; and my reasons are found in 
the letter of instruction. Mr. Van Buren, on the 
20th of July, 1829, to Mr. Mi Lane, then going to the Court 
of England, as American Minister. I think these instruc- 
tions <li 1. 1 in Kit tn tin' character and honor 

of the country. I think they showa manifest disposition, in 
the writer of them, to establish a distinction between his 
Country and his Purty ; • l»irty above the coun- 

try ; to make interest, at a foreign court, for that party, ra- 
ther than for the country ; to persuade the English ministry 
and the English monarch, that thiy had an interest in mam- 
t.-niiuie, i'i ui United £ ndancy of the party tc 

which the writer belonged. Thinking thus of the purpose 
and object of these instrui I cannot bo of opinion that 

their author isaproper representative of the United States at 
that Court. Therefore, it is, that I propose to vote against 
his nomination. It is the first time, I believe, in modern di- 
plomacy, it is certainly the first lime in our history, in which 
a minister in a foreign Court has sought to make favor for 
ble legacy which he could Leave them; while his political I one party at home, against another ; or has stooped, from be- 
friends in New-England, possibly under the mspirntiii . of bis ln g the representative of the whole country, to be the re- 
eloquence. were burning "blue lights'' along the coast, to con- , preventative of a rait v. And as this is the first instance 
duct the forces of the public enemy into the bosom ol their m our history of any such transaction, so I intend to do all 
country.* When such men put on the garb of public virtue, , m my | ewer to make it the last. For one, 1 set my mark of 
and become delicate of the public honor, there is surely no disapprobation upon it s I tontributemy voice and my vote, 
injustice in testing their sincerity by the standard of their past m make it t i ed and avoided by 



lives. 
Sir, 1 will no longer occupy the attention of this meeting. 

I feel that I have already 1 scurried it, although much 

remains to be said, lain persuaded that I do not overrate 
the justice of the American people, when 1 say thai there is 
no refuge for die author of this blot upon I al charac- 

ter; and that time will record their indelible disgrace. They 
will stand before the world, not merely in the light of men 

who have brought dishonor u] on the character of th entry, 

bin in the still more odious light of political adversaries, who, 
in ministering to the purposes of injustice and persecution, 
have accomplished a double object of personal revenge. 



'Quid domini fociant, audent quum taha hires!" 



REMARKS OV MR. WEBSTER, 

In the Senile of the United States, on the nomination of 

.l.'r. Van Buren. 



all future ministers of the United States. If, in a deliberate 

and formal letter of ins:m litions and directions 

arc given to a minister, and repeated, once and again, to urge 
these mere party eonsidet reign government, 
to what extent, is it probable, the writer himself will be dis- 
posed t hem, in his one thousand opportunities oCin- 

formal intercourse with tile agents of that Government 7 

I propose, sir, to refer to some particular parts of these 
instructions; but before 1 do that, allow me to state, very ge- 
nerally, the posture of that subject, to which those particulars 
Thafsubjt our trade with the Bri- 

tish West India Colonies. 1 m cessary now to 

gominuteli ide. The occasion 

does not call for it. All know, thai by the Convention of 
1S15, a reciprocity of inn . ■ : Itshed between us 

and Great Bi itain. The ships of both countries were allow- 
ed to pass to and from each othi ly, with the same 
cargoes, and subject to tht i But this arrange- 
ment did not extend to th. Bri Westlndiea. There, our 



MV. President : As it is highly probable that our proceed' intercourse was cut off. V tnir.ating and retalia- 

iujrs on this nomination will be published, I deem it proper to [ tory acts were passed, by England and by the United States, 
state shortly the considerations which influenced my opinion, j Eventually, in the summer of 1825, me English Parliament 
andwill decide my vote. passed an act, offering ^ofaraslMmerecarrt/mg 

I regard this as a very important and delicate question. It trade was concerned, to all nations, who might choose, with- 
fs full of responsibility; ana 1 feel the whole force of all that j in one year, to accept thai offer. 

responsibility. While I have been in the Senate, I have op- jfj, Adams' administration did not accept that offer : first, 
posed ho nomination of tin- President, except for cause; and I becaus) , „ never was officially communicated ton; secondly, 
have at all times thought thai such cause should be plain and i^,.^,,^ on ) v a f ew months before, a negotiation on the very 
sufficient ; that it should be real and substantial, not unfoun- j gamP su bj ect i m d been suspended, with an understanding that 



ded or fanciful. 

I have never desired, and do not now desire to encroach, in , rable 
the slio-htest degree, on the constitutional powersofthe Chief 
Magistrate of the nation. I have heretofore gone far, very 
farm assenting to nominations which have been submitted to 
us.' I voted for the appointment of all the gentlemen who 
composed the first Cabinet ; I have opposed no nomination of 
a foreign minister; and I have not opposed the nominations 
recently before us, for the re-organization of the administra- 
tion. I have always been especially anxious, that in all mat- 
ters relating to our' intercourse with other nations, the utmost 
harmony, tne greatest usjity of purpose, should exist between 
the President and the Senate. I-know how much of useful- 
ness Buch harmony and union are calculated to produce. 

I am now fully aware, sir, that it is a serious, a very seri- 
ous matter, to vote against the confirmation of a minister to a 
foreign Court, who has already gone abroad, and has been 
received and accredited by the Government to which he '■■ 



it might be resumed; and th ause it was very desi- 

to arrange the whole mailer, if possible, by treaty, in 
order to secure, if we could, Me admission of our products 
into the British Islmidsfvr Consumption, as well as the ad- 
mission of our vessels. This object has been earnestly pur- 
sued ever since the peace of 1S15. It was insisted on, as eve- 
ry body knows, through the whose of Mr. Monroe's adminis- 
tration. He would not treat at all, without treating of this 
object. He thought the existing state of things better dian 
sny arrangement, which, while'it admitted our ressels into 
West Indian ports, still left our productions subject to such du- 
ties there, that they could not be carried. 

Now, sir, Mr. Adams' administration was not the first to 
take this ground. It only occunied the same position which 
its predecessor had taken. It saw no important objects to be 
gained bv changing the state of things, unless that change 
was to admit our products into the British West Indies, di- 



sent. I am aware that the rejection of this nomination, and ' rectly from our ports, and not Mrdened__with excessive 

the necessary recal of the Minister, will be regarded by foreign 

states, at the first blush, as not in the highest degree favorable 

to the character of our Government. I know, moreover, to 

what injurious reflections one may subject himself, especially 

in times of party excitement, by giving a negative vote on 

sueh a nomination. But, after all, I am placed here to dis- 



du- 



jes. The direct trade, by English enactments and American 
enactments, had become close! No British ship came here 
from the British West Indies. No American ship went from 
us to those places. A circuitous trade took place, through 
the Islands of third powers ; and that circuitous trade was, 
in many respects, not disadvantageous to us. 



It 



In this state of tilings, air, Mr. McLnne was writ to Eng- 
land ; and be reoetveahii instructions from the Secretary of 
State : In these instructions ami in relation to 'Inn subject <if 
the Colonial Trade, ore found the sentiments of which I com- 
plain. Whii i 

Mr. Vim IJuren telU .Mr. McLane, ''t If opportunities which 
you have derived from a participation in our nuMic councils, 
as well as other sources of information, wilt enable you to 
•peak with confidence (as far as you may deem it proper and 
useful so to do) of the respective parts tnkeji by those t'> whom 

|he administration of this government is now c mitted, in 

relation to the course heretofore pursued upon the subject of 
(be colonial trade." 

you will 
be able to tell the 1 

that vou, and I, ami thi lustra- 

tion, hi 1 the course hereti 

■ 
Be sure io let him know, that, on that subject, ve have held 
wnli England, and not with our own govern mt tit. ,y Now 

I ask vou, sir, if tins be dignified di| h I 
tnanship? Is it patriotism, or arty? Is it a proof 
of a high regard to the honor and renown of the whole coun- 
try, or is r ! b disposition to make ft merit of be- 
longing -ions? 

v proceeds: "Their views (that is, the views of 
the present administration) upon that point have been sub- 
mitted to the people of the doited States; and the counsels 
hy which your conduct is now directed, are the result of the 
judgment • ■ the only earthly tribunal to which 

II don was amenable for its acts." 

Now, sir, in the first pi little reason to 

■uppoj lis paragraph is true, in point of 

farL I mean thanqpart which intimati e of ad- 

ministration was brought about py public disapprobation of 
Mr. Adai i luct, respect i 

trade. — Possibly, so much W1 on a subject which 

no few undentood. some on may have been 

produced by it. But b will be 

round, by mture historians, for this 

will be the popularity of a sue ier, united with a 

5, made to I , that the preteren- 

ccs uf the jwoplo in his not been justly regarded, 

on a | basiorA There is, sir, very little 

nay that ** the only tribunal to which tne late admmisti 
was amenable 11 \ rmant againtl it for 

ilseonduct ■ subject of the colonial trt 

B r this may be. the other assertion in the para- 

graph is manifestly quite wide of the facts. Mr. AdamVad- 
minisirntion did not bring forward this claim. 1 have stated 
already that it hi -ounnou and 

tmu, through thv years of Mr. Monroe's 

aifiri i knew, or was bound to 

: tt as set up by the late 
ml afterwards abandoned by them, and not 

Dow re 

But the most pnrt nfthc whole follows : — "To 

set up the act* of the lass administration, as the cause of 

forfeiture of privileges, which would otherwise be exv 

to ih 

Usoea, be unjust in itself, and could not fail to i 
their deepest sensibility." 

Mi", 
cone, lie in- 

I ■■ 
lest he should nod us u ' 



of the despatch, he says, "I will add nothing as to the impro- 
of suffering any feelings that find their origin in the 
: retensions of this government, to have an adverse influ* 
■ f Great Britain. 1 ' 
lask again, Mr. President, if this be statesmanship 1 if this be 
dignity, if thisbcelevated regard furcountry 7 Canany man rend 
this whole despatch, with candor, and not admit thai it t» 
plainly and manifestly the writer's object to gam credit with 
the British ministry tor the present administration, at the ex- 
pense of the past? 

Lest I should do the Sucretary injustice, I will read all 
that I find, in this letter, upon this obnoxious point. These 
are the paragraphs : 

"Such is the present state of our commercial relations with 
the British ci I such the steps by which we have ar- 

rived at it. In renewing (he events which have praee 

ore or less com . n result so much to l»e regret 

ted, there will be foi bunds upon which we are most" 

assailable; 1st, in our too long and too tenaciously resisting 
the nirht of Great Britain to impose protecting duties in h«r 
colonies ; 2d, d 

" The opportunities which you have derived from a parti- 
on in our public councils, as well ns other sources of in- 
formation, will enable you to speak with confidence (as fa' as 
roper and Useful SO to do) of the resi-ectlTO 
parts taken by those to whom the administration of tnis go- 
vernment is now committed, in relation to tile course haretov 
fore pursued upon the subject of the colonial trade. — Their 
views upon that point have been submitted tf> the people of 
the United Stab s; and the counsels hy which your conduct 
is now directed (ire the result of the judgment expressed by 
nly earthly tribunal to which the late administration 
was nmenablc for its acts. It should he sufficient that ths 
.■ p>i up liy them, and which caused the interruption of 
the trade in question, ba^sj been explicitly abandoned by 
those v, no and are not revived by their 

successors. If Great Britain deems it advene to her interests 
low US to participate m the trade with her colonies, and 
finds DOtMng m the extension of it to others to induce her to 
apply the same rule to us, she will, ws hope, be sensible of 
the propriety of placing her lefusal on those grounds. To set 
up uv ministration as the cause of forfeiture 

of privileges which would otherwise be extended to the peo- 
ple of >■■ I - - would undereXsSting circumstances, 
ljUSt in itself, and could not fail to excite the deepest sen- 
I ■ • of feeling which a course to unwise and 
pn..;.i<e, would doubtless be greatly 
. aienesothal Groat Britain has, by or* 
rtito Russia and France, 
similar omission on their part to accept the 
terms offered by the art of J 1825. Vou cannot pressthis 
view of the subject loo earnestly upon the consideration of 
British ministry. It has bearings and relations that 
omediats Question under diecussi 
" I will add nothing ns to the impropriety of suffering any 
■ find their 4 ; unt pretensions of this 
rnmcnl to hew upon the prsjasju 
■ . - (it Britain." 
Sir. I lubmitl the candor of all just men, If I 
. vhnr topic, throughout 

iean interests, not 
lioneotoor 

own country, reflect miration, and ex- 

1 a hmd claim <>i merit, for the ndinmistratiun 

wer. Sir, I won:: slakes: 1 w 

wnm oi information, I would pardon n 
I siw true pritriulisni and sound All 
I tbe sacrifice of this 

p Party, 1 :ui io •• adinn abroad a 

who has 001 - so larec anf liberal, as 

D the pre* I ' ins, amidst the 

1 foi his country, and 

his u is to 

I not ffer others to 

,! or his Country, and far Ices 
it he 1 I ; that he is to have DO objects 

in htS • irt in hn tmsom 

but an \ Tit; andtliat b • I par 

and narrow I 
Republic, who* 
M I' 1 i III >V an- 

nul mil unpleasant of my hi H i 

I <*. sir, 

•Oalas myself, I rn- - Uug bv 

- I - H 

And, adverting again tolhc same subject towards the close Minister, and the Unash King, end by every Minister and 



■ 
iter, I be I Mil 



lest thi I no 

we ha 
choosing rul 
the Bril ihl H 

kisnon — [Mr. Clay s.-u \ M ■ Mr. I 

wan a '»- I id. The 

B itsrfisa 

pririlcg* , that his H M toogra- 

■ f ..ur nib i - ' I 

r rights, 
, oreiiys 

It t soyiSp- 

« that reach beyond the immediate question ui 



1.1 



every crowned head in Europe, while amndme here in .my 
nlacc, I pronounce my rebuke, aa solemnly and a8dec.8iv.-l> 



here in my ' lory manners, there was great reason to hone thai hie effort* 



\\ .- M < lay afraid that such a re- 



i would he snc.^s&iui. "no -•*•• ^.u./ -.*«•- ..--- - - - 

cc, I pronounce my rcnuKe, as «»-""' J "'Tn^n'.'an Mm- W 1 •>•*<> »™uU be ^luded, 

as I .rik .iron this first instance, in wli.cn an amencanjiiui ■>> , " , , r _ , ,,.. „,.,.,,„ ,.,„, „„„„, »,»h b , Ghent 7 

r I™ Sen sent abroad, a. the representative of his Party, which would 



.Bier uiw. uw.... =„..*.. - , — -- i 

and not as the representative of hia Country. 

REMARKS OF MR. BUTLER, 

At a r*Wing of the Republican Citizens of Albany, held cm 

Saturday Evening, Feb. 4, inositol tot! lecuon Of the 

nor.inntii f MARTIN V ^ BI REN. 

M Chairman i-The gentlemen who have already ad- 
dressed you, have told you who, and What, the ministi 
whoae nommation haebSen rejected by the Senate-they have 
exposed the motives winch led to this violent and unwarrant- 
able measure-and they have pointed out the injurious con- 
Be.iuences which cannot fail to result from u. 

There is a single point connected with these topics, which 
has not yet been adverted to, and which is loo unportanl 
omitted. I refer to the objects of the mission which has now 
been broken up, and to ihe leading motive which indui 
President to offer, and the late incumbent to accept it. Hav- 
ing been honored by the latter with that confidence wh» 
ables me tu speak upon the subject, and the circumstances of 
the times making it highly prone, that I should do so, 
I beg leave to state, that die mission of Mr. Van B 
had special reference to those doctrines and practices ol the 
British Government concerning impressments, blocked, 
trade with enemies' countries, which, as you v. 

constituted, for a long series of years, a stand. - oi 

complaint on our pan, and at length produced our - 
warofindei i In the treaty of Gh h thai 

wnr was concluded nd»a word was said as to these interest- 
ing topics. But though unnoticed in that meti 
claims we had asserted, were successfully mainlainei 
the thunderof our cannon, on the ocean and the lakee, ;>' \ 
ora and New Orleans; and die practices against which It 
was levelled, were artuallv given up. 

Apprehensive, however, that they might be renewed, 
whenever a war should break out between Great Brilai 
any odier maritime power; and fully aware of the conse 
quences which would inevitably follow such renewal; our 
Government made an unsuccessful attempt, urn, 
ter the -peace, to preclude the occurrence of such a stateol 
things, by anamicable settlement of die disputed points. Ihe 
matter hag frequently be,-., referred to since; but the various 
questions which have arisen under the treaty of Ghent, and 
above all, the difficulties which have grown out of the con- 
troversy concerning the colonial trade, have prevent 
several years, any attempt to negotiate on these subjects. On 
the conclusion of the recent arrangement concerning thai 
trade, they justly engaged the first thoughts of the President. 
The changes which,' about the same time, occurred in the 
government, and domestic policy of Great Britain, and the 
favorable opinions evidently growing up in that country to- 
wards our people and political institutions, seemed also to 
render it a propitious moment for renewing the negotiation ; 
whilst die interesting aud critical state of Europe, which, at 
that juncture, threatened a general war. obviously required 
that it should be done without delay. Mr. M'Lane, howev- 
er, had already asked and received leave to return to the Lul- 
led States; and Mr. Van Buren having resolved to retire trom 
the State Department, it occurred to the President that he was 
eminently fitted to undertake this delicate and most impor- 
tant negotiation. His wishes on this subject were express..,! 
in the strongest terms, and they were appreciated by Mr. Van 
Buren A desire to carrv them into effect, was one of the 



pruttuceu i i .mm lj- <-./ ■•• — • 

wnion wouiu cast ii ' -' "Mated at Ghent f 

ilhoun too— did he think that a rival, already formi-- 
more go by the eclat of services 
| .- tras the duty— the solemn but 

most unii/co™ k* duly— of rejecting this nomination, strength- 
ened hv ' "ti'Tsduetoasuecesg- 
l tuiesof this case, let an 
ublic decide, whether there be not good reason for 
these Inquiries. 

But however tins may be, one thing is certain— the great 
objects of the embassy are not to be promoted by the course 
taken in the Senate. On the contrary, all the interests of the 
nation will receive detriment abroad. How extensive and 
lasting it muv be, none of us can tell. Still, there maybe 
good cause for rejecting this nomination; and if so, n may 
have been better to risk "the evils referred to, than to have con- 
firmed it. The decision of the Senate professes to have been 
made on this ground; and the reasons assigned for it, have 
been E „ despatch, to the judgment of 

the people. I have read, with deep interest, all the speeches 
which have reached us; and 1 have compared their statements 
isonin*, with the official documents, which, fortunatc- 
ly for -1 ruth, are to be found in odier parts ot the 

1 at Was! la my humble judgment, 

the causes th. ' ,,, \" t ,hem " 

I call your attention— not to die idle gossip 

orthc dastardly insinuations whit oi credulity 

have dragged S " pi speech 

\l \\ jter— the profoundly able, the cool and disenmi- 

u rely if there be good reaaona for thia 

ere, is capable of plating them before us in 

the clearest and most convincing light. His. remarks, as 

published intheNati tntt lenuybeen 

,1 by hims. If. I I ' them inthis light, and 

shall),, ,,u and the public have a right 

to hold him, for all thai they contain. I intend to read to you 

i i tnysfcil 

iw, thai he has misst " '° 

give; that he has omitted others: which were essential to a 

judgment on fore Jiim; and that he has re- 

eoi Mr. \ an Bu- 
ren. I say this under a full sense of the responsibility 1 as- 
sume. 1 know what I shall deserve, if 1 do not make.tgood. 
All I desire is, a patient hearin and from the pub- 

lio. 1 tposure of error and injustice, 

I shall also undertake to show, that the instructions to Mr. 
Ml. when properly understood, contain nothing deroga- 
tory to the honor ofth- on die contrary, are enti- 
tled to all praise for their alulnv and frankness. 

After an introduction, which shows that he is perfectly 
aware of the light in which the measure, if taken without 
sufficient cause, would be viewed, and ought to be viewed, 
both at home and abroad; die distinguished Senator from 
Massachusetts) proceeds to assign the reasons of his vote. To 
do him perfect justice, I quote the paragraph at length : 

"I am bound to Bay, then, sir, that for one, I do not advise 
nor consent to diis nomination. I do not dunk it a fit and 
proper nomination ; and my reasons are found in the letter 
,, tion, written by .Mr Van Buren, on the 20th of Ju- 
ly 13-27 to Mr. HcLane, then going to the Court of England, 
. as American minister. 1 think those instructions derogatory, 
in a high degree, to the character and honor of the country. 
1 think they show a manifest disposition, in the writer of 
I diem, to establish a distinction between the country and the 
' parte; to place that party above the country; to make inter- 



strongest motives which induced him to accent the nomma ^ ^ auulc ,„ c w 

tion; though he did so m opposition to the wishes and advice £ ■ ft f ', reisn TOUr , for that party, rather than for the 

of his political and personal friends in tins State, w no, as y ou *• t0 pf r rsua d e the English ministry and the English 

i, . . .......11.. Q.-.i.-ce fn his onin? out 01 tne -..'., , , . . -_ . ._ _ : J-.;-.^ ,.. ilia IT 



lion; Liiou^.. .... .... r.r-- -~— . ,. c _, n mhn ...... esr, at a lureigu couii, iui ...... !"•'.'. '"— — — — - •--- 

of his political and personal friends in tins State, w no, as > ou comJtrv . t0 V g TSaa i e t h e English ministry and the English 
well know, were generally averse to his going out oi tne monarch tha , /AeJ , h a d an interest in maintaining, in the U. 



COUllU\; LO [)ci&uaut uiv uis". ""j -- . p 

monarch, that they had an interest m maintaining, in the U. 
States, the ascendancy of the party to which the writer bo- 
lon°-ed Thinking thus of the purpose and object of those m 
structions, I cannot be of opinion diat their author is a proper 
representative of the United States at that court. Therefore 
it is that I propose to vote against h.s nomination. It is die 
first' time I believe, m modern diplomacy, it is certainly the 
first time in our history, in which a minister to a foreign court 
has sought to make favor for one party at home, against ano - 
ther- or has stooped, from being the representative of the 
whole country, to be the representative of a party And as 
this is the first' instance in our history of any such transac- 
tion sol intend to do all in my power to make it die last. * or 
one 1 set my mark ot disapprobation upon it; I contribute my 
voice and my vote, to make it a negative example, to be 
■* """""• his -n shunned and avoided by ail future mmisters of the United 

knd treated, by die British k.ng and the member, f^ I -^ , f _ m a dehbera[e and forma l letter of instructions, 

vernment, as well as from his practical talents ana 



a-, wire ^eneiiiiiy tiicior. «« ...- a v r'o — , 

country He was not unmindful of the sincerity, nor regard 
less of the value of their opinions; but he nought— and just 
ly thotiTht— that the errand on which he was to be sent to the 
British "Court, was one of mighty import, not only to the peo- 
ple of bed. countries, but to the whole civilized world. He 
believed too— and if his course was prompted by tins belief, 
you will not deny that the ambition it implies was a noble 
one— that the minister who should succeed in bringing about 
an honorable settlement of these long litigated and danger- 
ous questions, would eminently deserve, and undoubtedly re- 
ceive, the highest approbation of his countrymen 
The leading object of this embassy was alluded to in the 
tne leauiiip oljc nnen ; n T of the present session. It 

President's message at tl. - "K!'"^ ud from the dis- 

was t^^y?"*^ 00 ^^^f m Srhad been received 
tiiiTuished manner m which our minisie 



10 



admonitions and directions arc even to a minister, and an 
repeated once and again, to urge these men- pai ' 
lions on a foreign * what extent, is it probable 

the writer himself will be Go* urge them, in his 

thousand opportunities of inform;! h the 

agents of that government ?" 

All this, sir, is extremely well expressed^ and if the in- 
structions referred to, do really bear tits character which 
Senator has given * ■ has pro- 

■ nou net d, isstftctly just) and 1 turn for 

hiB fidelity and fir n the instruc- 

tions are such aahel e pi bw <i. U 

cr they be so or no i may easily ba decided, by a referee 
the document use If; and to this short and proper teas, Mr, 
Webster proposes to l)i' question. ] 

however, he unoV rl posture of thai matter to 

which iheyrelati late of our trade with tite Brit- 

ish West India Colon i, 1 1- then proceeds to nstj a vary 
brief, but ul the same b artful state i 

u posture of the subject." [Here Mr. Butler rem pjffj \\ ■ n 
iter's statement"' nances preceding theai 

mem of Mr. ttcLane.] If this were a correct statement, it 
would be difficult to deny the justice of some of his animadver- 
sions. I shall show that it is (grossly incorrect 1 admit that 
it does not profess to be e minute history; it is jjut forth as 
a mere outline; but a single instance of unfuithfiilnessas an 

outline, will dec live aval re than numerous errors in an 

elaborate work. In the present case, there are several instan- 
ces, and some of them ofa most striking character. 

In the first place, the ho atoi entirely mistakes 

the manner in which this subject was disposed of by ilie con- 
vention of 1915. On this point he saya: "All know that by 
th. eonvention of 1815, u reci] estab- 

lished between ub and Great Britaii I i both 

countries were allowed d i aes, to and from each otfaj ■ 
specuvely, with the same cargoes) and ntbji 
ties But Uiis arrant;, mi Eland to the British West 

Indies. There our intercourse iros cutoff*." It is true, that 
by that treaty, the commercial i &en Great Bri- 

tain and th- (Jail S is established on just und equal 

Banns; the ships I allowed to pass to 

and Irom each other respectively, with the same cargoes and 
subject to the same duties. 

It is also true, thatthiearrangemenl did not extend tothe 
British West Indies; there ! emeiiiii-xpresa stipulation in the 
., that the inn I ited States and the 

British possessions m thi w Indies and on the comment of 
North America, should not be affected by any of us provisions. 
This exception w u remp- 

tory refusal of the British governmeni to negotiate on trie 
subject — a refuse their determ idhere 

to their ancient policy ol this trade by navigation 

laws and not by u> 

Bnr it ib not true that "our intereouse to the West Indies 
wancut off"* by thai un 

inline. On the contrary, we then I. with 

those islands, regi ike thaj which we enjoy- 

ed before the war. It was such an intercourse us was per- 
miued by the b'-iboI' I'. , then 

in force. Our exports to the Uriiish VVi Indies and their 
American colonies amou l-lti, 

to •6,069,900! mi 1917, 10 97,493,764, of our nun product*. 
ai least one fifth of which was 1 

lies collected by US on imports from those colonics, d 
the Tears of 1816 and 1816, ezeei 
$5,(KJU,tMs>, of whirh 01,130,617, were on import 
vessels; an S 4 Iron. Massachu* 

setts could say in his pli . ttOUl into the world tltai 

"our intercourse was rut 

The error 1 have now pomtsd out ii an extremely import- 
ant one. It has a moiv ms 

i the liuoi- 
Tli- ■ 

of Mr. Webster's stall that those seta and 

omissions were urred in 

die, course of "reialur 
of "'it government, with tl 
fan which ws had been 'cut off 
tine assertion taum I wn; and 

I Mr. 

he ho* th-pJn- Hi. Van 1 l 

cd to ad-1, 'that he ki hi to have known,' that H was 



acisand omiseions oj lervanis by whoa. I 

ness of this nation wnt aft' luctea. 



The c 

■ 
of the colonial trade 



! 



ed v. 



.. , |>,0 I 



he hosoccupir ! .v. in ad- 

dition to the pracoce of regulaung this trade by act* of Par- 



liament and orders in council, another cardinal feature of the 
British policy was, the imposition "f protecting duties on 
Amen imported mtotheir colonics. These pro- 

tecting dunes the British ministers in 1815 refused to gree 
up, and they have ever adhered, ami declared lh< v shouldad- 
here, to thia determination. Notwithstanding title, Mr.AduLra, 
tie, and Mr. Clay, as a fending member of 
thi 11 K i took, the former to nego- 

tiate, and thi , the B from the 

■ ad taken. Between 1816 and 1823, various a-ts 
passed, with the view of coercing the Bnt- 
eni into a compliance with our demands. The 
of these BC(S are ear.fully overlooked by 
Mr. W xt material defect in bis sum- 

lo which I beg leave tofcall your auention. To com- 
pel the British government to give up their protecting duties, 
alien or discriuiiuaung duties were imposed and kept up by 
us, to the gr< at dissatisfaction of Great Britain. But as these 
did not accomplish the object, Uic act of 1913, concerning na- 
vigation, and that of 1820, supplementary thereto, were pass- 
tof which was, to establish a nun intercourse in 
British b all the British American colonies, and to 

prohibit the introduction into the United States of all articles, 
the product of these colonies, except that of each colony im- 
ported directly from itself. This si -> continued 
Until 1^"22, when the ports were opened by virtue of act* of 
Congress and of Parliament, subject to certain restrictions — 
our uiscrtminauni: duties being still retained, (though still 
objected toon the other side,) with a view to the original de- 
ing rid of the protecting duties. With further 
[st of March, 1823, was 
passed by Congress, This act, amojfcSj "her tlungs, declared 
in c tier t, that so long as tfa ware kept opjin the Co- 
lonies, our discriminating dunes should be exacted; and it 
provided, in case the trod Hnush acw>f 1822 
or any part of itj si I to us by Ureat Britain, 
P lent*s proetamiing the fn<*f, the acts of 1919 
and l£3ft before referred to, should be revived and in full 
force. Ii is evident from this notice of our legislation, dur- 
ing the period refarad to, that u involved a claim on ourfpart 
to oc allowed to participate in this trade, arithooi being sub- 
Lermaon winch it was enjoved by other nations, 
itnd which, in the judgment of the British government, were 
fundamental in their nature. — This claim was also bronchi 
forward by our ministers, under the instructions of Mr. 
■ y; and it is to this dial Mr. Van Bureu 
refers, when lie speaks uf the *duims' und 'pretensions 3 set up 
on our pan, but afterwards abandoned by the last administra- 
tion. 

The next event referred to by Mr. Webster, is ths British 
act of the 5ih of July, 1826, of which he says that it offeied 
"rrriproeihj as far as the mere carrying trade was concerned, 
loall nations who might choose within one year to accept the 
offer." Without Mopping to show that tins is not a very fair 
mode of statiiit: thi H of this act, let us look 

at the excuses which he gives for its non-acceptance by Mr. 
Adams' adinmtstru' 

n&Jini i» '*Jeoaus8 it was never officially communicated 
to it." By this the senator means that the public shall so 

that the act was unknown to Mr. Adams' administra- 
tion, i If he does not wean this, 
then the excuse amounts to nothing ; n-r if thsy knew of the 
act, it was not nt nil inaterml 'hat it should he officially com- 
manicated. Bui did no) all Wabs sr know Umt it was not 
the practice meute to commuitirate to estch 
other, acts of D oUact that it was 
made known to Congress at the session Of l^io-G bv ihe mes- 
sage of the I' That the Balumore merchants pre- 
sented a inemorial, m wluch they referml to this law, ami 
' n it 7 That S * Uluc- 
• litjret, which was laid on the table by the 
■ sdininuerntion senators? Thai a resolu- 
tion was introduced into the House of Renrcsentanves, by 
>lr Oambrelen& of this State, calling on tne committee on 

. M \ ton, a warm 
supporter of the administration, to report, whether it was not 
ex|<r.i: I M Webster does 

not knoir all this, then has he ssrv«>ttrii what passed under 
his own eyes during ilic soasioi- If he docs know 

all Uns, what shall we say of his candor and regard to truth, 
in makinc this excuse! 

I i use ha asaigne is, "because only n feu 

: uad been 

• that it might be rerum- 

1 t t - J . . . ■■ -. but 

negouation on th.s 

had Ircn toi son ng at London, 

between Mr. Rush on our pan, and Mr. Huskisson and Mr. 



17 



Stratford Canning on the oth r, was suspended, B.n II is an 
enure mistake to sav, that it had been sn wj •.- 1 n 1. •■ 1 i, ilh an un- 
derstanding that it might be resumed. I know this 
has been repea'edly Bet up by Mr. Clay; but I «l« know that 
the last protocols speak of the final communieations of the 
ministers to their respective governments! and that they Bay 
not a syllable about resuming the negotiation. If 'I 
is to be decided by lie i.-eoi.l, then there is .... 
saying, that there was any understanding thai the negotia- 
tiouwastobe resumed. Afi.-r waiting my nearly a year, 
without hearinf a syllable on the subject, Parliamenl pa ed 
the act of the 5ih of Julv, 1925. The passing of this act 
was in itself tli- hU'h.-i n.lwf, that the British Govern- 
ment were resolved not to depart from the ground they had 
maintained ; and how men of sense can say, and hope to he 
believed, that they supposed the matter was still to be left 
open to negotiation, notwithstanding the enactment of tins 
law, passes my comprehension. 

But time is a third reason for not accepting the terms of 
this law. "It was very desirable to arrange the wool matter, 
if possible, by treaty, in order to secure^ tftce could, the ad- 
mission of our products into the British Islands for i i imp- 

tion, [Mr. Webster means by this, free of the protecting du- 
ties,] as well as the admission of our vessels."— And he goes 
on to observe that this object had been pursued evei sue-, the 
peace of 1S15; and that Mr. Adams' administration was not 
the first to take this ground. I have already stated whe n, 
by whom, and for what purpose, tins ground had I" i 
4nd it is only necessary, in order to dispose of this 
cuse, to remark, that lone before the expiration of the tune 
limited for earning in under the ad of 1925, il had been fully 
ascertained that this object coiM nut be effecte I. 'I 
of fruitless negotiation had shown that the scheme was utterly 
impracticable. To peraist in pressing it, after the ; 
the law of "25, evinced great want of judgment and a sin- 
gular passion for diplomacy; but very little cither of good 
sense or statesmanship 

"In this state of things," says Mr. Webster, "Mr. M Lane 
was sent to England." JChis, sir, I deny. II- was tiol sent 
under the stare ffl things sketched by Mr. Webster. 'I 



you to speak with confidence (as far aB you may deem it 
proper and useful so to do,) of the respective parts taken 'by 
those to whom the administration of this Government is now 
I, in relation to the course heretofore pursued upon 
chesubieci of the colonial trade.!" 

, . ing comment : 

\ , ther more nor tying, 'you will 

be able to tellthe British., muster, whenever you think proper, 
ihatyou an I t lei ling persons in this administra- 

I by die Gov. 
eminent, itry, on this subject of the colonial trade. 
I), -,,,, to ■ liTm know, that on lhat subject, we have held 
... th I. end not with our own Government.' N •■■ I 
:,, if tins be digffified diplomacy! Is this states- 
manship .' I pi tism.orisiti rtyl Isitaproof 

I to t'n- ho and renown of the whole coun- 
try, or^s i f a disposition to make a merit of be- 
longingtoone of its political divisions .'" 

Now, sir, if I sood alone, without any thing to 

qualify or restrict it, 

senator!. it It 'Mr. Mc- 

Lane to Bay, that t) 

1 : ■. "the i mm- 

I md," instead i own Goy- 

,,,; ',,■ E J f the language he had quoted, is 

asnotbi ' on. You willobsei-ve, 

sir tlial thi qu I B : '' s,ein 

to warrant he ' M'Lane was autl 
r he thought proper, to volunteer the stau 
not that he and M i ,1 held with England in- 
stead of then ownoounti ,"aa Mr. Webster lias it—but to 
state the part taken bj ion on the sub- 

ject in uuestion. The ...rising our minister 

necessary that he should u.. i ht well be qui 

But on reading the sentence which immediately precedes 

i ..., si,., w .ter, you will find that no such un 

v was givea (»,, the contrary, Mi V Lane 

no, „„,,, . ok of this matter only m a particular 

p, the omittedsentence will 

I as follows- 




Government to avail itself of the offer held out in the British 
act of July 1825. The irade enjoyed by us prior to Decern!,, , 
1326, though unequal and restricted, was extensive and valu- 
able. It was much belter than a non intercourse ; and a large 
proportion of the capital and enterprise of the country was m- 
terested in it. The loss of this trade occasioned great com- 
plaint. Mr. Adams and his cabinet felt the pressure of I 



case. Mr. Gallatin— who had been sent out in the be 
1826 with a set of flimsy excuses for not accepting the lav 
of 1825— Mr. Gallatin, I say was instructed in 1827 to be 
anew of Lord Dudley (who had come into the Foreign Office 
after the death of Mr. Canning,) to be let in on the terms of 
the act of 1825. Mr! Gallatin-did all that a minister situated 
as he was, could do, but without success; and in the begin- 
ning of 1828, he returned in despair. Mr. Barbcurwas then 
semwith directions to sue again for the same privilege. In 
the meantime, the subject had been fully brought before the 
American people; the documents were called for an ! res ' ; 
Mr. Adams and his Secretary of State, were charged with the 
loss of this trade, bv neglecrand mismanagement ; they were 
vindicated by their friends m the best way which th 
admitted ; but in the judgment of the people, the vindication 
was imperfect. How much the popular dissatisfaction "P°B 
this point contributed to that result, Mr. Webster himsell apes 
notveiitureentirely to deny though he suggests that other 
causes had a grea'ter influence in producing it. Hotreyer 
that may be, no man can deny that the loss of the West India 
trade, by the late administration, was distinctly made, at every 
poll in the Union, one of the principal .topics of acousation 
and defence; and so longasthis fact shall he admitted, it will 
he difficult toprove that tins point was notincluded in the ver- 
dict rendered by the people. This, then, was "the state of | 
things," under which Mr. M'Lane was sent to England, and 
received his instructions from the Secretary of State. "In 
these instructions," says Mr. Webster, "are found the senti- 
ments of which I complain." What are they ? Let us ex- 
amine and see. 

"Mr. Van Buren tells Mr. M'Lane, 'the opportunities 
which you have derived from a participation in our public 
councils, as well as other sources of information, will enable 

C 



aiid bv consider; bul itpi ■ ask, 

M'Lane was authorii ""''' think proper, 

to tell the British minister," &c. &c.% On the contrary, is 
not his authority to Bpeak of this subject at all, specially limi- 
ted to the.event of itsbeibg objected, that the former admini- 
stration had omitted to accepWhe ■■ Why then 
e , was the qualifying sentence omitted'! I ask you, sir, if Una 
of befairdealingl fs this justice, or i .ust.ee? Is it 



SeGtw a P«»f of a lugh regard to truth and fa. -' Or is it evi 

'denceofad mislead the puhffS mm-l; to place the 

question on fals. gi,... ii. Is and to destroy a political opponent 
by any and everf means'! I protest to you, sir, I am sorry 
—truly sorry— to say, that in my humble judgment, it lscon- 
clusive evidence of such a disposition. 

Mr. Van Buren goes on to say: 'Their views (thoseof the 
present administration,) upon that point have been submitted 
to the people of the United S'ates; and the councils by which 
your conduct is iiowdire.--d, are the result of the judgment 
expressed by the only earthly tribunal to which the la'e ad- 
ministration was amenable for its acts. It should he sufficient 
that the claims s p by them, and which caused the inter- 
ruption of the trade in question,have been explicitly abandon- 
ed bv those who first asserted them, and are not revived by 
their successors." I have already alluded to Mr. Webster's 
observatioBson the first part of this paragraph. On the asser- 
tion contained in th i latter cart of it, he remarks: "It is man- 
ifestly quite wide of the facts. Mr. Adams' administration 
did not bring forward this claim. I have stated already, that 
it had been" a subject, both of negotiation and legislation 
through the whole eight vears of Mr. Monroe's administra- 
tion; This die Secretary knew, or was bound to know. Why 
then does he sneak of it as set up by the late adnnnisrraiion, 
and afterwards abandoned by them, and not now revived!" 

The charee here made, of a departure from the facts, is 
quite gratuitous. It is not denied that the claims referred to 
were set up by the late administration, nor that they were 
abandoned by them; the imputed departure from truth consists 
in the su- .rosed assertion that these claims were first set up 
by the late administration. But Mr. Van Biu en does not as- 



IS 



sert that they were the first administration which 

1 1 I W 

first set up undei Mi M luetiatsOD, one 

uj lost to him, tie 

would b ;ted that in a former pan 

none, (p. 6,) thi ,1,ul ,lie 

claims referred to were pul Garth in the ^rt oi ' 
I si of M 

■ v Hi* in our negotiations an thi ti 

] 
ti ,1 a ith Lb hi toi '. "i th ■ . and at 

l*u»t ever; Senatoi in Congi 

\ . i l Clay. \ ..■; will it 

be denied that they had explicit! them I a ere 

tn tlnd part of thi 

tlOIIFi i 

Bur, f. .- M. Webster, " the moat humiliating part of the 

whole follows : ' To set up the acts of the late adn 

tion aa the cause of forfei f privuegi , which wi 

irwiae bi o the people of the 1 

under existing circumatanc< I <» itself, ai 

not fail to excite theii II ri then, we 

aid and front 1 ' of the Secretary's offi 
well aa th i i] -<■ oi Sir. W I 

exudes from every pore in the following exclamation : " 80, 
■.: M Pi sident, we are reduced, are we, 10 the 

that we nee a Minister of uuts great Republic in- 
structed to argue, or ti tl Bi M 
lest he - Mtokave fori ; ana 
lest these privileges should no longer be exten 
Ami we have forfeited the haviour, 
in choosj who thought better of our own claim 
than of the British ' Wh 
to the*'l. me vi the Bi tishM 1 
Huakiaaon— {Mr. ('lay sai t "no, kj I !annu)g."J- Mi ' - 
nine, then, sir, who told us that all our trade W 
[noi ranted to us by the Indulgence <>f Eng- 
land. TI 1 Bril Minister ci 

admits it is a pWetlcgt, and hopes thai > : M 1 

will be tongracioufc to decide that we ha lis privi- 

lege, by our misbehaviour. of ow rulers! Sir, 

for one, I reject all idea 01 holding any right of trad 
other rights, as a privilege, or aooon, from the Bri 
ernment, or any other gi 

I m which 

th- word " priviU ■■> . Mr. \ ■ Bttren, n - 
is, speaks of the ofl 1 held out in the 11 
unentasa " privilege P } And this ia 

lornineering " "f M . Cannings who had 

called it a lwon ! And on this theme we havi 

in whieli this Hon 

involved the utter abandonment of.all prii 

M Webster has either dieplay- 
1 ry great want of information himself, or oounu d very 
largely on the want of il iu others. Ever sines bt« has had 
Colonies, Great Britain has maintained, with inflexible per- 
severs nmon withother powers 1 ■■ 

sessions, the ancient pohey of treating the Mde • 
omes'us a thing Iwlongmg axclusn f — a thing 

aot to be a 1 1 

such terms a* she pleased As to the wisdom o( 
its influence on th < and itsjusti 

liberality towards other nations; I have nothing to is 1 
speak only of the fact; and that il is a* 1 have 1 
man who has the least pretensions to general knov 
venture to deny. It is on thin phncipVthsV she has SO uw- 
Eprmly persutad in the course of n I 

trade bv sets of Parliament in 

1 anange at pleasure, instead o( formingtrea 

subject which could not be s<» cliani * 

rnrnattt waa extremely di • ei una 

more hiieral and pennament footing, and ti 

roiher than by asperate legisl 

the B 

pret, 1 die right oj I • I" 

pleased on the Buim I 

oy argument and by retaliatory Lawa, tliat it waa bar > I 

to place this branch of i 

the ' 1 us and the rrn I 

not aaceeedia, snd in the mos 

take what we oould get kB I 

ssyasapri uise all the British al 

jeei into which 1 have 1 

to f -' 

frric>.< art of 1 

-- \\ 

oonsider n dareanuory'to the 1 * 

lu *ff*r*l by -hat law »s & jrivtiegt 



na, in one of his instnictiuns to 

an attam] l to settle 

granted 

i 

Hill tent any thing in the word tl pru 

1 ran Was to '■ fire. M >re than 

I I fa u.- net of July, lp"i5, use* the i 

the law of 
tion to I 
■ 

the iik<- 1 to British 

til place 
I 

at ion." 

\ ii was in refi u by tins 

Mr. Van Bui • , which 

M W ilpahlo 

Of 'IflD ID 

1 imethmg 

■ to Mr. 
G in referent 

scry point, the same Mr. Vai B tl aye, 

nances, that the 
I- nf Con- 

fOU an- DOW until ! 

is willing to recommend, \i die interdict 

which hi 1 1 d Statp-k 

tn th. mi, slo PRIVILEGES Of the a«.-t 

of Pa nent of 1 nations, could not 

citable with ons, which it 

■ 
of the government of t 1 States, to cultivate and main- 

■ 

l 1 am but a tyro in thi .i[doma- 

I 
. yond the sj elling Ikh^K. In 
N I lr\ nil it is that \ ox now? 

Seriously, Mr. C 

ihaii tl .at in which himself I 

He 

lance; he 1. laces 

round, he ta'ks 

tntry tlms 

humble I I* K But lo! when We 

■ 1 
■ 
lv nothii '1 ;if:er all, 

Senai This famous 

■ 

■Kan any Othl H 'iiuinili- 

haracasrof 
■ 

Mi. H 

\ Bj fee/ too 

B M tstry.fi 

the immediate 

1 1 ! "inplaio 

omitting the senteureimn 1 the »-flrri 

9 

feellnc whirl. 

re(nt«*l i . I 

ude which u 
Buren hnd r. 1 t 

ao unwise ani 1* cnln 






A 



Mr. Van 

course 

- 

• *• that 

«d her colonial ports 

n siimln 

I 
■"' irubjert tOO 

r »* (he 
m> un- 
rorable rone 
I 
taken 1 






sen- 

1 M Lnne 

' the 

lbs for- 

" mT i 

moan 

M I'llAM- 

. Its 



A i;.. 1 nrposecf 

<■♦, is from the rW 



»r» 



despatch, and i« m the Following words: "I will add nothing 
a* to the impropriety of sufi I elingsthmlj 

origiKin tkler 1 past pretensions of tkit ■ 

G 
Britain." On this hi 
dignity.' or elevated r. ai 1 to country: 
Ins judgment or the whole document, in the following inqui- 
ry: "Cmi-iin man read 

not admit thai ii it plai iW an I m imTeetly tli- » 
to gain credit from the B ai for the pre 

:,,., u .. i tpenae of the past?" A 
in conclusion, ihnt th 
"nol Lmei ican rigl 
defence, b tl denunciatio i 
■ 

,,i id claim of merit, foi the administration now in pow- 
er." 

I have now reo proofs addu 

Webs er, an I e< comments, « 

rial to ii 

Tiie rem lindei ol Ii 

the sickly thai r, in which he talks of the 'diUy" ll 

itduly," the "most unpleasant duly ofhis public life" 
—ib precisely what it Bho ild have b en, if 
made and the censures bestowed, in the former (art of his 

address, had 1 n correct and just, [have 

deuce which can neither be repelled •" : 

all the special circumstance* n :l| e honorable 

Senator, that Ins statements are palpablj incor 

censures as palpably unjust, [confess, sir, that it is 

matt, i both dI 

talents and re ut ition an- even 

"proudly eminent," sho ild have perverted his splendid powers 

to a wui k so wicked and » i weak. 

Tin. general to le of the « hole document, and the 
of authorizing Mr. M'JLane to speak, in - 
political history and of khe acts of our public men, remain to 
be eonsii le 

[ wish, sir, that every person who tal si in this 

sulnect, . 

As they occupy about a do 

rusal is indis ensable, if we v i ild form a., accui 
ment as to ttieii 

shall read them with but a mod rate of im ortialrty 

will find that with aju 

our own country, there is bfended th 

ness, winch is calculated o 

maml respect. So fai from "ho I nd, and 

"denoun l,:, - v ' ,""= 

Secretary commences wi h 
of the HnitedS 

course with ol u I nations, is founded on the princip is t.f per- 
fect equality and reciprocity! thai tho es have 
beenadhered to with scrupulous fidelity ;"—that the conven- 
tion with Gres Britain in [815, estab 
between us and 'I" I possessions in I 
equal tei ins ;" I "' " ,! " 
4merican polonies, on the same fo and jus- 
tice ;— and that to ea ablish iton fait terra 'ays been 
the sincere objeel of this country." T 
which the unfortunate . iteof things, existing at hi 
the instruction ,had letailed with fidelity i 
the eioundson which wi wi re liable I '. in con- 
KquTneeof theactsand omissions of a former administra- 
tion are then frankly stated ; the injurious consequences to 
both countries, of keeping up the British interdict, are strong- 
ly insisted on; the wishes of the President, and the precise 
terms on which he is willing to settle the matter, are clearly 
expressed: and Mr. M Lone is directed to make them known 
in such a plain and direct manner as to seour i 
exDlicit renlv T.na, sir, is the general tone ol the mstruc- 
Ss-^lcoiifes* that I u.„l in diem .-Mag incon- 
sistent with s ' jard to the honor of the a 

Buttheapp " M - M '<"" was " '"V° 

make, had bleu twice made : M Gs *n,».d< eby 

Mr Barbour, duMng a former administration. On these oc- 
sasons, it had not only been denied, but the Br.t.sh govern- 
ment hkd refused to I i,.:mseofa pre- 
vious owiision to take the 'rivilege applied fon when frank y 
offered bv the act of J i. ,-• '1825 Thai Mr. McLane : would 
also be met by this objection ; and that unless it could be an- 
ticipated and removed, it would again interpose an insuperable 
bar to the success of !he negotiation ; was not only known to 
those who gave him his uu&uetions, hut to the whole people 
If this objection were brought forward, then.-nnd then only 
-he was to make the other party " sensible ol the injustice 
and inexpediency of iwcA a course," by saying to them m 
substance" "although you have a right to hold our constit- , 



I uents to the consequences of the acts and omissions of their 

servants, our predecessors, if you choose to do so — 

authority to act for our constit- 

of by the acts 

nts — yet in truth the American people did nol 
1 oi in. ii conduct In this matter; on the contrary, the 

in ml they I ome acquainted with the subject, they re- 

moved ,. they had rilled, 

;t us in theii purpose, among 

other things, of settling this very affair on the terms before 

■ 

w is Id McLane to h<d4 this language 1 

the circumstaw.es of this case, considering the interest 

eople hud taken in ili« matter Ule y 

the important ■, m 
greater importance of pla ...-,„, 
1 kmbt 
li is undoubted n be- 
fofmer administration — not, how- 
r interest for a party, rather 
than for the country''— nor with the view of ''making favor 
for one party at home, against another"— bin evidently from 
• anxious desii mntry — aye, sir, 
y"— the advantages in question. 
; making this distinction no injury is done to the nation— 
there it, derogatory to the power of the coun- 
lrv | . n ■ (tent, a reflection on 
induct— perhaps on the capacity and fairness— of ths 
former administration. And I do not wonder that the mem- 
bers of that administn should feel som.-tHiat restive un. 

lication of this sort. But an implication of ths 
same character— th randmore humiliating— was 

contain election of 1829; and those, 

into the administration, 

were nol oul ,0 ta!te th,s M " rse . »° r 

ipose of ace. the wishes of their constituents. 

, l.t not to have been taken, because it involv- 

on— or if vou pleas. h— on the former 

to place the character and interests ol the 
public rent above those of the public ihemaelve*— a theory, 
suit the meridian of some govern- 
is, in my judgment, utterly repugnant to the princi- 
pies of ours. With us, sir, the people— the "whole people 
■oterested in all the affairsof govern- 
power; and the 
alar administration which mav atasy tune be momce, 
are merely the instruments by which they act— the organsby 
speak, [n their mtercouraewith foreign powers, 
another so ire bound to express the 

and to obey the will, of those who have commis- 
i hem. I do not profess, Sir, to be deeply read in the 
lacy; but unless [ am greatly mistaken, 
re generally been acted on, for the last 
i bv the governments of Europe. But however 
they spring so naturally from the character of 
and are so congenial to justice and 
.... thai inreference to ourselves, I entertain a 
it persuasion of their truth. . 

I trust sir, I have shown that the honor of the republic has 
not been tarnished by these far famed instructions. I wish 
I . us much in reference to all the negotiations on 

tins subject —Tins however cannot be said of that part of 
lliein which was conducted by the late administration. The 
o.ueral tone of the instructions transmitted by Mr. Clay to 
M, Gallatin, in the years 1S26 and "27, is that of a -culprit 
who knows that he deserves, and fears that he shall reel, the 
rod; but who, ui the very act of deprecating the consequen- 
ces of his misconduct, aggravates Ins offence, and seals his 
.nation, bv resorting 10 quibbles and subterfuges, it is 
theoi.lv page in die history of American diplomacy ol which 
we have r.ason to be ashamed. In the perusal of this page, 
no. will hang Ins head; for he will find in every line 
tie- windings of the Beroent, but not atrace of his wisaom 
the wei . i -s of the dove, but none of her simplicity or mno- 
r - a single instance. When the negotiation was 
led at London, in July, 1S24, Mr. Bush ««J 
Washington for further directions. None were sent to mm, 
and though Mr. King was sent out in. June 18-5, and re- 
„, ined nearly a vear, he was uninstructed on this point. «oj 
;, ime was wnu m on'th. subject from the State Department, 
until the 19th of June, 18 >6. when Mr. Clay gave h« m- 
structions to Mr. Gallatin, who was then about taking he 
nlace of Mr. King, and the special object of whose m ssioo 
was ^prevent the British 'act of July, 1825, from beintj 
closed upon us. To avoid this result, Mr. Clay instructs 
him that ii had always been the intention of our eovernmoii 
to resume, at London, the negotiation which had boen sus- 
pended in 1321, ami that it would have been don by Mr. 



so 



King, had not the elate of In- d variolic other cir- 

ciimeiaiiees, p rev ,,,| i,,,,, ( , , .,, , , ,,,jeet. 

.Mr. Gallatin, in I U | 

the 26ih ol ;,;, brought I Btau mi tit, 

•unji)?inir, ltiiili„il.[.-,llv. thai n nraatme. Sir. if unu ,,.., nnlu 




• .,..,.._ , ■■■! , 'i i . ,|.i. -- in iMuiiiiii necoin- 

n,o,lar,.,n, isduc If"* 1 '' ' I . 

ptUfy to the st„ic of l„„ith of 1/ i, . 
I ..s unnt, the underaJ 



- jy wwn uj + t ,r. nine. 
,«...., ,..i- undersigned has ,.i,!y to obaerve //,„/ ',,„ 
J*Mfm that Mr King I,,,,! ,,„„,,/ !£££££%&. 
would have enabled hmte re m th, m r ot , 

brfort rommumrat,;/ to t/,e Britith eor,,,,,„. 

^^onlj'oinmunicationatal^UHu^thbniS 

*r, which ha* ever r,,,.. 

fc™ t* T 'J"" MiniHirr .fates that Mr. , ' , | „, 

formed hun that he .houU not be able to furnish It, R 

(■M»y> 1S28,) to enabla-lim to ,, the neeotiation • " 

nawwheaheMoeivedthiBresroi e1 li ,,,,.„,.,..,■ ', ' 
Wael.injrion, an.lsubaeqiicnt' .2 r 

de.pa,ch of the Hth^Nov, ' . '^ 

•*«,<<»« aamewl.ieh have l„e 

tained a reJuctanl admiaston of die fact, that no inetnclion, 

on (Am , wn / nm „,., .„, , ,, r . "• 

^T "' ln T"" ■ '. .; 

^TT"? rotl "' hthe "" k Thil attended 

the „?" "7 '° " 

the ori-mal .taten.eni Ilea am. , ,.,.. , !r ,' 

tor, sv ,• : 

r ;- 

ean'or and plain 

M.I whicJ ■ inUrJ ' ! ' ,f "" 

d,.,,, -ttddirectfon, 

rival M n 

for the I 

wN, 

inth, I. Wi have, 

•anerriona, all *" Senalo?.' ' *"> 

amUaupi 

vote-hav, 

t.ve „„„,,. . . 

53 

fil .. . . 

uralrei, I l.ich i. the nat- 



urolre.„|. ■ chi.thenat. 

- 
lohehrve wha I 

ar2 , 

•do. . h" new and atrat 

dWH ed in- 

»'" ' • eade- 

:he,r 

of;.,, •• >,„„ 

thee.,, ""'•fa aorre.l „c nra ,„■ 

.what will, 

S lea The 



\ formidable rival— a powerful opponent-were to 

1 " l ;' " •»"■ waj ; the miaaui. . of t , ■ adminiatnuion 

ed, and the feeZgitf h" 

by he 

1 •■ ■■ t.-areil the altar,/,, w'h L. h 

l "",V'"' Ml only be held .ec...„,i« |" 

- '• but for poUuiiu w ,\l aav- 

r«e.To ro"d 

' '' Iher,,,,,,, M,.(''av ,Lt 

- ate. and 

' , ' ' wivatha 

andyawedonio that >va„,' ' My 

," i ' - M *own.with in, , ruuathX 

ed to this attack. I allude to itlbr anodier purroee lam 

''"'"■•'"r"' 1 "- filay'i Tr what" 

• : .-,,,„yl,-,, v ,,, r l,., 1 ,„, ,„„,,,, H-exia;a,or 

N ■'•'■ ' " : ' " rlv a,,p,oi.riaie to 

die meaaure we are conaidering. It l have rurfitir read tl e 

r u r;l "■"; l ; '■■ '■ "A - —' ,« »: 

, "" i I ly """''' '"" ll " deauera'u. Antony a. , 

7','," ! ■ T,i,f»v,. AT r Yul 

Bfthatinl M-,.al„„,n.-Eaeh of 

', '"■' I each h.Ted " 

; 'h"»gl'aithe,,„,rne,^,, . .„.,„„ ^ 

;,"■"'' !""' "ffigf^ ofA ,:,i,e „hj>c "was 

"'" powerfiil to put down uW 

1 I pttfawto 

;""'•;• andbyhiavoteti flack pr«rlpik5' wu 

1 ■ -.a. tie chief obieerof 

'" ,r , crima; though °on th?. 

point Octav. U .aftcted to yield . r.lw, , alJ „.„,„ n, ,° whVh! 
r.ofh. 8 aa S o,,,,. Whether, in th, end, he alerihed Tihi 

aaacnttoaso,.,,,,,^,.,,,, { d<lly ,„ , „ rep ^£~„l£ 

- d by the hiworiana, but it ..recorded, ,1,,', |,„ , ^^ 

ed reluetanre m the ea^ f Cioero, wn. the 'mere,, ,fi™ 

?adlh»mrn >. . | lBd , w n ™^ 

'.mT'i I .n.rPvandcTn- 

' t..pt. In the („„ | ,. ;i , ln „ s n . 

.- ion may read, with um rring certainty hi. own 

»tha motive. • ..f 7C Ianu" 

'• V '' 1, "I"'"" ' "th. -An etTean reS "i 

• n the aca and pjotivei of t\i, Triumvirate. ^ ' ' 

' Ceding remark, were delivered, and a rrreaf 

' ■ Mr.WeW 

."htlave 
\ <n " i had had he henentof*! 

! ?! wher.i.X ".''^ 

the ae..,on . 

, u J » Oallatia ' 

! «"r«-ch, eorrecwr! «n» 

■ A :V, '"- - • ncti'e"' 

m : , 

th 



ocrKHhare 

• »he«iJd do an — ) - 
V" 1 ™ ■ > l» I * to anil„ : aY,, 






" he who run., may 



M \\ """ " newrvc noliee. 

TOkenol M v , ■•/"•r/rnw 

,.,Tw r " "'■' ' 

'. " ;',, I're.i.entW 

I W r.U 

thi. off./, prtnh-g, , f ,,„ « 

J '" "","' ■""' '') lie' father Of h....,,„.„vT.« T%f 

our,.rod..cl a. (n our v, , , ^^J 

owniortan, 

",tr'v ;: 

rred 
«.rf* to our mrei y^r^" wh ^h W» -he prrvlege daia^l by 



21 



President Washington; but a claim to lie permitted to carry 
our productions to those Islands, and toenti free 

of the protecting duties imposed on our ptoduce. This it 
the pretension referre I toby Mr. Van Buren, as will 
on reference to his instruct ions; and of tins, not a word is said 
in the extract from General Washington. 

Again: Mrv Webster refers to our act of the lot ol Wai 
1S2^ to show that "Coi 
•pretension." Thisact, he informs us, was 
before the commencement of Mr. Idams* adinini 
ina nou- he adds that Mr. Van Buren wae him 

of the S,-u:,l. I Mi M'l.i I tl„ H..u-e. in '1 

passag' — and upon this hi found- 

ed on the supposition that ibis law « 

ten" when the instructions were penned; andtending to as- 
cribe tins fart to thew ol i -. "tol rook i ewUh 

the history of the negotiations oj th I S ■ ' u legisla- 
tion, <f«c. 

Now I have already explained above, what Mr. Van Bu- 
ren had said on tins point; and to prove thathe wo i cquaint- 

ed With the fact thai the pretens -efi rred to ■■ 

forward wIuIbi Mr. Monroewo P [referred 

rery lots .0/1823, as once in which it wo 

tchtch teas also stated at length in the instructions. In 

page 6 of the instructions, Mr. v. B. oducei thii law, os 

"the next material step in the movements of the two govern- 
ments." And on account of "the influence which il hod ob- 
viously had on the course of affairs, in relation to tl< 
in question," he proceeds to state its contents, v. hich he sums 
up in four particulars, the second of whioh is as follows : — 
"2d'ly. It put forth a claim which had been previously ad- 
vanced by us in our negotiations uponthe subject but al- 
ways restated by Great Britain, viz: thai no I 
should he imposed upon the producttpnsbf the Umti d States 
in the British Colonial ports, than upon thi ol Gi I Bri- 
tain herself, or her other colonies, and which had been !i 
for the protection of their oum produce. This was doi 
givingan authority to the President to suspend the payment 
of our discriminating duties by British vessels, coming from 
the colonies, upon hems satisfied thai no such duties were 
levied in the colonies on our produce, and by declaring that, 
until such evidence was given, payment should continue to 
he exacted." — [Instructions, p. 6.] 

And vel Mr. Webster would really wish the people of the 
United States to believe, thai the instructions were written in 
utter ignorance of tins law, thus spead out upon the r face ! — 
js it possible that hehasyel read those instructions .' If he 
has not yet read them, what is his judgment on them worth 1 
jr he has read them, what is the value of his candor? 

REMARKS OF HON. WM. L. MARCY, 

In the V. S. Senate, on the nomination of Mr. Van Buren. 

Mr. Morcy said, that lie had intimated heretofore, more 
than once, thai u was not his intention to offer to the S 
any observations upon the main question now before them. 
What regarded the pul lie condt tit Minister to 

London, was better understood by other mi mbi 
was to be said in explanation or vindication of it, v., mid be 
better said and better received E on) mosl of them, by i 
oftheir great experience m puMi affairs, rticular 

knowledge of the transactions which have been brought under 
review in this discussion. He had determined thai il - 
be his duty to trouble the Senate with remarks, only in 
topics should be introduced into the debate, with which he 
might well be supposed, from his local situation, to be parti- 
cularly acquainted. 

The occasion which rendered it proper, that he should say 
something, had arisen in consequence of wdiat had fallen 
from the Hun. Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Clay.) His at- 
tack was not confined to the nominee; it reached the State 
which he, (Mr. M.) represented in this body. One of the 
grounds of opposition to the Minister to London, taken by the 
Senator from Kentucky, was the pernicious system of | arty 
polities adopted by the presenl administration, by which tie- 
honors and offices were put up to be scrambled forbyparti- 
zans, &c. A system Which me minister to London, as the 
Senator from Kentucky alleged, had brought here, from the 
State in which he formerly lived, and had for so long a 
time acted a conspicuous part in its political transactions. 
I know, sir, said Mr. M. thai it is the habit of some gentlemen 
to speak with censure or reproach of the politics of Nb*v- 
York. Like other states, we have contests, and as a neces- 
sary consequence,' triumphs and defeats. The state is large, 
•with great and'diversified interests; in some parts of it, com- 
merce is the object of general pursuit; m others, manufac- 



tures and agriculture are the chiel concerns of it* citizens. 

We have m aBpire to ublic 

I natural to <■>. ect fn umstances 

, aJluded ,,,, tho her politics should 

re auentraa 

I \ i York an- not so 

the princi- 
ples on which ihej 1 oldly pn ach « hal they prac« 

avow their 

If ihey are di bated, 

Fu they 

ess. They 

see nothing wrong in the rule, that to the victor belongs the 

Bm if thei ing wrong in the policy which the 

nould 

1 1 terto 
I Mew Tori bul 5 hm 

il, r thai San-: he should 

■■ mile, now livmg. the 

l the 

I ■ ex- 

tliat 

I is upon the 

. while he was quit! man, 

andbi ' , " M "' political al- 

i i i rm.ited, so-, to say, thai of all the party 

1 have at I, i i l,u " 1 - 

I ,,t no one 

h, or advised on than the 

I OIL'. 

u s 8 uckycondemi re» utad- 

,„,,„ t, making removals from ofl " as- 

, rnicioiiB system of i oil ics imported 

from K v Yi t, 1 feai he doi * l, ' r tne 

peculi B l "" mBlra - 

, j | flOl come in nil- 

di i ih esihatMr. A •' Bgj 

Mr. M ' His like thai of Ms. 

.1 ii'. , II mapo ' " ; »"'- ihe 

M " :e8B 

l ' ' 

Hoodi Ihe II 
\\ Chief M took i ' , --lithe ad- 

all the offi- 

il ene- 

I , ,is friends, no one 

usonoforthusi 

with i ,t the heads 

of the set tments. 

Ii dii ; ol ,; m those de- 

., [ e , it will I that all opposed 

i e heard it c 

I with knowl- 

, i majority of those 

re ,. : OW to the 

,e the political su ■'■ honorable 

[iei ky. 

1 i - — very .good reasons, for believing, that 

j, j s t ), e ; to take cure ol Ins 

I oj 

a ower, he will 

Is, and if he docs, I can assure him, I 

lor shall I be in the leasl surprised if he 

i ..,■ le which he now so emphatically de inces. 

\ i ,. i 11 offer a few words relative tp the much 
to our former Minister to England. 1 

masl say, I luv iseovi red in them nothing to men v pro- 

, tun - I* -■ v i ■ on them. They do not, in 
i fit occasion for the Senator from Ken- 
tucky, to impute to Mr. Van Buren, as he has done, with 
emphasis and frequent reiteration, a charge 01 
ignorance. The language which he 
desired mighl betaken (Gram, is, " That Mr. Van Buren 
was culpably ignoraTit for not 
,.... fake." The instructions allege that 
o-first asserted certain claims to interfere with tne 
. ,. t Britain.as to the .Colonial trade, oooa- 
donea them, &c. The Senator from Kentucky chooses to 
consider this adeclaration, Iha" a the late administration nrst 
asserted the claims, and then abandoned them. If we admit 
Is construction to be the t me one, to what does it amount . 
He does not deny— indeed it is expressly admitted— tie tne 
late administration asSi ned the claims, and then waived them. 
What then is the mighty difference between the assertion in 
the instructions, and the fact as admitted here? We are told 



si 



that the la-.e ailuiiiustiui ware notthe.4i 

thai (hi » Mr. M 

If lh - 

has ' i 

Clni Ml he sentence. - 1 

there be ihe lea- mi m the ' 

the word « ui thai word ai d Ii 

the in u liether 

the laie administration » 

ilieii grave thein u . 

Viously aaat ' W 

gave them up, ih ^ " ' w aa 

any thing a 

tension 

the lati 

similar claim! or . 

cause of censure had m 

one as ilns would not haw been liu 

prominently. 

XI lanner in which oui : 

■tnlcied to cohduci I 

unusual; but it doi e censurable. Thi 

who ee v «ry plain m 

British 

to ihe Unite States a 

America. i coin 111 

which it is not at all nei I 

ministration, for so —probably i" thi 

ofgettitujbeller — refused 
advantage ua on i "f rights bi 

1 

those dial wi !•■ firsl il 

they proposed to tall B 

sJiein the) were too i ite, i 

a bad bef fen d. I '" *« 

they ' 

- 
on li-- on which il I 

by them. T situation of 

is'lm- I 

eouoli that then- sue 

B 

negotiation hill I 

■ 
I .ublic 

3 

the ol 

'■'• 

tlie in inner in ■ 

this affair. I I 

1 
vors o 

1 
11 pis 

neg-Xm 

REM VIIKS «)l HON. B. BSOTH, 

In the ('. S. & " ' ' 

M -i . I S 

I' 
kwru i to the I" I 

■ 

1 
as I ii I' 

s 
I 
I \ 

■ 
/• i - 



r 






P ,is the law. The Secretary con Aino 

P It, and wuoiever ho 

' I 

mat perform. H "Well 

\\ hat 
is that ii instructions of the 1'resideut 

in all c i n not U) l»: violated. 

I \\ . lui y-itnie years in Congress, 

jed, than "that die insrxueuous given to 

of the Pr -he in- 

f commence [ urn instructed by 

i i ^, &r. i$LC." or 

i in point, which 

transpired while I was in ' ban thirty years 

past. I was called from my seat bythi Seen oyofthe 

n II vhai the il i ol ltcpresenuuives 

were doi I replii ilia 

1 1 i 1 1 ri of the 

I 

<. t-lil, who pent K, mill Lou COUld itoll.er". 1 

from Ur Vnni, to request you to 

l mires tluit tlie Ii 

of Mr. Pickerii his (Mr. Ad* 

1 t House of II atalives, und- 

.omeni iij on il.e re( nil, as 

M I ■ n ...mining 

I I . ; -l.ree tunes. 1 then asked 

what respect 1 was out of order. He replied, 

"you moot consider the report as die art of the Presi - 

his by sending it to the House." 

I P and therefore I 

I - :'*. 1 look my seat. 

be Bui isjon was had, and the vole 

I i Her, by a large 

lent was PBSj 

and noi Mr s i lei hie authority, lu 

r .-, the in- 

I 'resident 

. wi i' delivered to .Mr. 

Ml II at ihe paragraph which 

itlcuieit, had been 

P 1 l ihmk it at ail 

- . net of pros* injustice to make 
l| ', l: I isir.igraphs BO Ire* 

quend > suhstatituil ij trur. I admit, 

baa said, 
i . J .a hail ever read tits 
1 . 8 .now the President, 

I re thai S i resident 

Ur. McL me, and 
I wish that £ res with 

I, I he will cer- 
tainly til, r ii is as well, and I migtil say bet- 

r all, of 

I 

I 

itly will informed ill every thing 

as. 

\ s Maine [U Holmes] has said tl - M 

Ml i of the Bn- 

Hinister." That ' ^ '•' 

;\ 

i any man 1 J 

i| U I is not made of such 

\ |] \i I :,, the [Willi at 

|| He SM up no .lily 

II 
I . \| ■ " 

Bui, sir, liis lirmiicss and f.-anknsss con- 



I ive seen and 

r 

M \ I 
llr. Van 1 

I .. lliat 

|i Ii. J a 

il.) dlB] CliSlllg 

, i sailing his 

-,vii net, and not in 
, as lias been 



1 

I 



23 



ottered nil reluctam f the Ministry to enter into a i 

Am TOconvinced them, thai they hi 

B id construction of the Aci of P Jl " 

the cases of France, Russia, 

fore in justice, i 

demand of equal justice to the 1 ! 

,,,1,1 them that he had come for I 

Ihe Colonial trade, and thai if notindulged mam 

wouldreturn home. Call you thi 

the feet of the British Ministry"! 1- there any ermgii 

dea latehesof Mr. M Lane I Noone willsay therei I : - 

tro* is Mr Presi I. it, and il oughl lo be known to th 

that the frunl of the offence is, the m \ 

ptetely ruccecded under thi its given by Mr. Wan 

Buren,~and as completely mother— 

acrime that never can be forgiven by thi i ' of Gen. 

Jackson. They trill never parioo himfo 

hII the negotiations, in which the 

had co fetelj fail d. V istance, the lateadmi 

had attempted and failed, in all the foil 

lamely:— In the claims of France: li- 
the Black s a • - rce : In 

Mexico: In obtaining from Oolun 

lies on our produce and manufacti res, and lualii 

duties charged upon our trade, with thoBi I 

In all these matters, there was h complete fai 
and complete success by the other administration. The suc- 
cessful negotiations were under die instructions of Mr. Van 
Buren. How then can Mr. Van Buren I" 
who hod failed? It was true, thai the Convi • D 

mark and Brazils for seizures, had been closed, or nearly so, 
when the present administration eame into office. I' ynoeul 
by Sweden was effected by Mr. ( ' 
claimants, without any inatrv 
by the Chargides Affaires. The Charj 
asa private 'friend of the lucceeded. 

[The Senator from Kentucky, (Mr. Clay,) in a su 
speech, remarked, that heA.n/ '■ ■' H 

the Charee des Affaires to Sweden, to attend toll 
our Merchants against Sweden, and that S from 

Marvland (Mr. Smith,) waseirher mistaken or misinformed. 
Mr. 'Smith made no reply, but address- ; S 

cretary of State, for information, whether Mr. Clay, when 

Secretary of State, had ever given the instruct -. winch he 

asBerted,*had been given by h&n to Mr.Hughes. 1 

the Secretary of State, contradicts the averment of Mr. Clay 

on Una point.]* 

♦(NOTE.) The following letter and 
tract from another letter on the same subject, have been 
vedfrom the Secretarv of S 

Department of State, ) 

Washington, Jan. 30, 1832. 5 
Samuel Smith, Esq. Senate of Ihe U. S. 

Sib: I have the honor to state, in answertoyour inquiry ot 
Yesterday, that the records containing the instructions of tlie 
De larun'ent to Mr. Christopher Hughes, when fora i I 
d'Affaireaof the United State* in Sweden; have been careful- 
ly examined, and that all winch is found in them, in relation 
to ihe then claims of our citizens upon the Government of that 
country, lseiven, in the subjoined extract of a letter fro. 
Adams to him, dated the 17tll of June, 1819. 
I am, Sir, very respectfully, 

Your obedient servant, 

EDWARD LIVINGSTON. 

Extract of a letter from Mi. Adams, Secretary of S 
Mi. Hughes, Charge" d' Affaires of the United States at Stock- 
holm : 

Department of State, ) 
17th June, 1819 <, 

" The President has been absent from the Bet 
ment, one tour through die South and West, since the 30th 
March. His return to this place, in the course of two or three 
weeks, lsexpected. Since his departure, Mr. R 
correspondence with the British Government, on -i - 
the Stralsuiid Claims, has been received, as well as that which 
followed Mr. Russet's taking leave of die Court. It is 
fill to perceive the perseverance of the Sw, G 

in withholding the indemnity, so justly and indisputably due 
to our fellow citizens, who suffered by diose seizures, fur 
which notevena plausible pretext isalledgeil. I: is still more 
painful to fmdUieir denial of justice, accompanied by insinua- 
tions, neither candid- nor friendly, and by allegations utterly 
destitute of foundation. Earnestly desirous of mairtt; 
with Sweden, ihe most friendly and harmonious relations. I 
shall reserve, untilafter the President's return, all further re- 
marks on the subjeet." 



The Senator from Kentucky (Mr. Clay,) has charged Mp. 
McL the I avigating interest) 

U hern pofta 

cs r- 

1 I Ohio New-) oi k, 

\ \l B iuld otherwise 

have bi I believe thi fanners of 

those Stat ! heir produce 

sold in I - of duly, and is carried 

I I Wesil s if it were the 

ce of Canada. It is of liti ice to tlieni who 

is the carrier, u Let, and a 

I M tiatl 

U . .Mi Lane. 

Hi Lo with it. I' hi med no part 

! of that intercourse lor 

certai: me gratuitously by 

the Hi I ■ I ■ i to the attempt at 

G v ' have been 

• ii known to the Senator, 

r\ . . now 

charge it .as a faul ttr. McLane, ..ho had no 

to do with .' Nor had 

M: \l I. to do with the acts of Gr.au Britain 

made by him, by which 
act, otherar'.i' li-soi our produce are admitted free of duty in- 
to tin are received in England 
w l reduce of tiie Cana- 
I ( tint the produce of 
our farmi I ' • d m Knsrlai 

* - new mar- 

ket to a pari of ihe -r markets 

I S U C sy, has truly said 

..hem of the S I uiadas, pas- 

ses into Canuda, is there ground, iuj shipped to 

British ports, as tf it ■ the win it of Cana- 

I has been tie s act of Great Britain, Adop- 

ted for her own inter* a *altoour 

farmers. A ■• s, and 

qM . ■; ml N. Bruns- 

wick. The fanners and graziers U lifter in opinion 

with the Senator from K-- M Clay,) and are r allv 

so simple, as to their free intercourse widi Lower 

'. I il to them. — 

; " use with tin i: North American 

Colonies be beneficial or wheth i jurious, tlie present 

i McLane, had little port in it. It haa 
been effected, in part, langeracnt was concluded, 

aiidsoon . I aslhi previous- 

ly said, I,. Great Britain, and 

thiafactm Senator, (Mr. Clay,) 

for he then acted as Secretary of &tate. We have for near- 
ly half a century been claiming the free navigation of >, 
I • ■ as a natural right. If has at : u gratui- 

Great Britain, and now die Senator 
ains of it as a griertmee. 
The Se Sir. 1 complains that the instruc- 

tions Btati ministrations had abandoned cer- 

tain pretensions." TheS lese pretensions 

hadiieen waived. The Senator from Georgja (Mr. Forsyth,) 
has contended that there is no difference in substance between 
* : this grave question to be settled by those 

learned ben&tors, ami will proceed to shew what those pre- 
tensions were, anil which 1 can hardly restrain myself from 
pronouncing, were puerile in the extreme. 

During die .-■ gress was informed, that an 

act was pending 111 Parliament, for 'he opening of die coloni- 
al ports to the le United Slates. Inconsequence, 
an act passed, authorising the President, in case die act of 
Parliament w,< -0111111,10 open the porta of the 
United States to British vessels, by his proclamation. The 
act of Parliament was deemed Batislai ti ry, and a proclama- 
tion was accordingly issued, nail the trade commenced. Un- 
fortunately for our commerce, and I think contrary to justice, 
a treasury circular issued, directing the collectors to charge 
British vessels entering our ports, with die alien tonnage 
and disci es. This order w r as remonstrated 
against, il MY tan. The trade, however, 
went on u Cong s met, and a bill was drafted 
in 1S28, I 'I \ is, dien Secretary of State, and passed 
both 1! - '\ ith little, if any debate. I voted for it, believ- 
ing that it nut, 111 a spirit of reciprocity, the act of Parlia- 
ment. This hill contained, however, one little word, "else- 
where," which completely defeated all our expectations. It 
ced by no one. The Senator from Massachusetts, 
(Mr. Webster,) may have understood its effect. If he did so 
understand 11, he was silent. The effect of that word "else- 
where" was to assume the pretensions alluded to in die in- 



21 



.unctions. What v. I -of the 

; " ' 

ofthi N 

iv : result v 

irward. Thi 
1 I' ad- 

mitted tree o) du i ' 

rata 1 ' '• **■ . 

The H" 1 ' h ' ' ''""I*-' 1 " 

d by their 

I 
all the world, ontem 

.. iswllieh 

theinttrui ii! "»"'i by ll,r kue adminis 

tration. They Ml' 

words in the in nr. G I 

i oneent to uxri 
fore made of the aami British 

Colonies, at the same and no '• imilar 

articles ore el i i with, wjien imported from one into 

another Hi i ' 
•cendme the St Lawre N whal- 

tcr difference il may be between the words "teat 

mi<! "abandonment" i 

& complete abandonment in diplomatic lang age. u 

simple truth '' l3 

ibis— v w /■■ ""'''/' 

toth- >■' 

latin. IHnr Me lachrymal 

The dissolution of the I ' Mr. P lent, has 

been on Mr. Van Burcn; and what it there at 

home or abroad that ire have not heard charge, 1 to Mm I— 
Trie elder Adams i 

rr of the Navy. Thi i I by the ' 

tie imrtv, and day.— 

A change of the Cabinet, is, therefore, nothing new H 
grieve and lament over the la* 

cabinet more traduced than thelal le, b; 

opposition'! Onion. T I 

fn.-i , r nee the 

selections which the Pn sidenl ha I Tl 

selected were honest and honorable men. T 
litioal frieni I of thi m wen 

timates. Their dim 



some 6ii--!l instructions, um he would not otherwise have talked 
ofacl olding ouia I , roe] eel of ul- 

Mr. VaqB i ing the fa- 

ther of what roj-erly calJed the "prescriptive *5ya- 

t.-in:" "the re- 

moval from offii ^ : ' None < an ,: <' pro- 

— nil ih surmise and eunjeoture. 1 act on no such 

such as tins, i» made, I want 

1 d. Hut 1 absolutely deny the 

will offer uni ncis 

oftheuenial. The charge cannot possibly l»- substantiated, 

■, ean satisfy this Senate, that 

Mr Pan B Ubanyand Washington at one 

and thi I will simply anjli H \ 

' . . . V-w 

STorli i tin - Ira ion of the Senate met onthe4thof 

I think he (Mr. V. H.) was nominated on the 

of the Senate, ■ .'-my-five 

officei ally to fill vacaniee occasioned 

by removals ' M these officers Mr. Van Buren 

could know nolhi T to this course, if there 

met then present. Mr. 

Vai Bun few of those re ved, or uf those 

rated. I well remember that 1 U Fan Buren in 

return home, and .uclude that 

il inn t have been at 1< elween the tm,e of his 

lintroent, und his arrival at W : > Eton. I think, Mr. 

I' sol, that II M van Buren could not 

have been the father of what is impro "pto- 

-.in." as] Stan) adopted - "es of 

i . d eame into 

l.l removal from utfice for 

ons declared. ''■ ' Id remove any offioer, who 

feriors to act contrary to their 

[would I I ' -'master, who had 

known to frank the "Coffin-handbills," or any other abusive 

papers of either of I morals of conse- 

have been mad M I think (bur in Balu- 

, when:- the i Seal are. One of these 

■ils I regretted — it from tlie best feelings of 
' rt. 

Before I finish my remarks Mr. President, I will notice 

what passed between thi S ^ '"'ay) 

and myself, inrels 1'arlianieiuof July ' 

I nsjnrtfd it 10 

the Secretary. II : m his possession, 

and handed it to me. 1 asked him, terms oro- 
II 



Then ' I "•"""» " ,a " P" - i 

ties The members "I it are known to be competent to the were all we could ask. I - 

special ditties of theii pnrtmenis, and equally II 

advisers in ll r " r » " t ' hr ' '' vN ' 

till! 

Alii 
eil, : 

" im ""x I' I his pr.Wiiii.nimn, and i 

"££ ,,,,.,,, i -I think General thai if he did not. I ahaild be ; . mtrodueea 

Washni] 

years 




IO „ ),. Hi remaked, thai he wished I « Id do so, and that he 

of his administration, and I re mber • ould not only sign it, »•<>* sign it withpleaeure. I did pre- 



t !,„!,< ■• I*' are a bill, under the order of the Senate, and, doubtful 

JoTihi ' I think i' thar it might be correctly dims »erjeo*myoo- 

I g M I ,| wuli 

opinion, that I ' lueet thai he woul _Hs repned 



the gro 

Jarkve 




alwav P 

■J"™"' - Senator, (Mr. I Kr. ( inning bad observ- 

The senaor'from M W, Bar,) says th -en ad- 

1 




M m | i ■ epir in tns or>- 

,. I • \l II > Inch have f.i.en uoiu the Senator 

srsa: i '•"•) 



25 



Rl. MARKS Ol<" HOV. JOHN FOBSYTH, 

In the U. S. Senate, on the nomination of Mr. Van Buren. 
[Mr. Forsyth makes no apology for the rough Bketch he 
presents of the remark.-, made by him in the secret sessions of 
the Senate, on the nomination of Mr. Van Buren. The 
speeches against the nomination having been, for the first 
time m the history of this government, thrown upon the peo- 
ple, it iBtlueto the person assailed, that what was suggested 
on the other side should be known. Mr. Forsyth is well 
aware that, in executing Ins part of this duty, he has done 
justice neither to the subject nor to himself.] 

1 regret, Mr. President, that the Senator from Mis 
(Mr. Poindexter,) has been so Ion- absent from his seat, not 
only because be has beer, suffering pain, but because had be 
been here, he could have escaped 'he commission or numerous 
errors into which he lias been led. The friends of Mr. Van 
Buren have not obstructed inquiry into his conduct : they 
have challenged investigation, offered it hi every and any 
form consistent wnb the obligations of the Senate to its own 
character. The Senator from Maine, (Mr. Holmes) shrunk 
from his own resolution. It was hud aside bythe voteB of 
those opposed, contrary to the votes and wishes of those 
friendly to the nomination That Senator was tits', ■ 
vited by one of the Senators fioin New York, fMV, Mori ,) 
to specify any act dishonorable to the character of Mr. Van 
Buren, and a pledge given that tie- inquiry into it should be 
made in the amplest manner by a committee having all the 
powers necessary to the" establishment of truth. The Sena- 
tor from Maine was distinctly told by 'be Si not rfroni South 
Carolina, (Mr. Hayne,) on wleit terms lie coula c 

his vole. He was told to cover the ground 

and he would join in the condemnation oft! hoi 

Pre-:doiil. The Senator from Maine deliberated on (lies 
offer, and, after deliberation, abandoned bis resolution, leav- 
ing all to grope their way to a conclusion, as accident ur pre- 
judice might direct tbein. A promise was made, that he 
shou'd have a committee if be would venture upon it, and 
the offer was deliberately and most unequivocally declined. 
Yet, after all this, at this eleventh hour, the Senator from 
Mississippi says, if the friends-of Mr. Van Buren wills,,!, en 
a committee, be will give w hat be Ims collected, while confin- 
ed to his sick chamber, and on which his own opinion is 
formed, and if the committee is net raised, be will, with this 
matter m his poelcet, vote against the nomination, in ordei to 
preserve the morality id* the nation, endang red by the be- 
stowal of a new office on a gambling politician. 

As the friend, personal and political, of .Mr. Van Buren, I 
reject the liberal offer of the Senator, in defiance of his threat- 
ened Degative on the nomination. Lit him unite with those 
who, like him, are so anxious to preserve the morality of the 
country by rejecting a man whose most odious crime is his 
rising popularity and transcendent ability. The friends id' 
Mr. Van Buren will notdegi&de him fv asking a Committee, 
to free him from the suspicions engendered in the Senator's 
mind, in Ins search after correct information, from sources 
within his reach. His character wants no Bitch justification. 
Does the gentleman wish to justify his vote? let bun pro- 
pose a Committee; he shall have Cur concurrence. Does he 
desire to convince the Senate? Let him produce the private 
source. Information which, I venture to say, like tile only 
one he speaks of openly, is worthless in the eye of any man 
who is not so embittered by prejudice that lie can not see 
truth. This letter, by a former partisan, a paltrv editor of a 
paltry newspaper, and to prove what? that Mr. Van Buren 
said that the late Cabinet was dissolved by the conspiracy of 
the Vice President, to drive Maj. Eaton from the Cabinet, 
and that he withdrew to escape the consequences of the disso- 
tion. Sir, Mr. Van Buren nolds no such conversation with 
persons who were once his partisans, and now Ins enemies. 
But supposing he had declared, or does entertain, .be opin- 
ion imputed to bun. Is it a crime which disqualifies him for 
a high office, that he believes the charge made and sought to 
be established by the late Secretary of War? If such be the 
Senator's opinion, can he tell us how far the exclusion ex- 
tends? The Senator's letter story is contradicted by Ins pre- 
viously expressed bpinion, What, Sir, the most artful man 
in the world, proclaim to a paltry editor that he acted in the 
manner indicated, to escape the storm consequent on the dis- 
solution of the Cabinet! If it had been true — if such had been 
his motive, he would have sought to conceal it from himself. 
No degree of confidential intimacy could have tempted an 
artful intriguer to such a disclosure. The story if true, 
proves a man, whose extraordinary prudence, under all cir- 
cumstances, through a long life in the stormy politics of a 



vexed and turbulent State, has gamed him the confidence of 

I' 1 ' ll lends, a,,, | called luWt! U] en blln the cl sfTCOl SUm- 

111 i artifice from 1 i , to be a silly driveller — a sim- 

ening hi budget ol petty motives to one whose 
trad, v , dcing himself important by eopfiden- 

'" ,| and oraculoi in Ins unknown journal. 

Mr. Van Buren lands in a strange condition before us; 
ben! i! of this administrauon before he c one to 

until fhi held ac- 

ori ei | oliticol me,, iii this 
country for all the evil thai ho and all the good 

that I .Nov : e mtal le for 

I i v here, let him 
have ci ... d the evil tl al baa not, 

l n done, Balano tie . tl •■ admitted good and 

(, | il imputed; aid ib result will litl (he hearteof lus enemies 
1 '■ Ho', in. ' the 

him. Heisrespom ib i foi ..) tl al com- 
plained I eSei ior from Mississippi (Mr. Poin- 

oeM i ( labinel O ni cils— did ihe 

suffer from to follow the ex pie of late 

administrations, from thii adlu to the example of Gen. 

W B Cabinet Counci ailed 

lion. Indeed: and IhiB Mr. Van Bu- 
ren is also answerable for. And is it true, sir, thai the honor- 
able ne nd»rs of tl etwhoremaii mlly 
a: ineii I,' -i 'oj .i g all their i and honors with 
on, suffered themi d of 

' iincil 

n ■ merest to the 

pnblii nd call of Mi \ B ren, to 

I i If what mil made 

to. 1 ' did no tain if this restriction of 

OlltOf 

'. ei Mi. \ ni Buren or 
the aoi of the Pn i lenl ! the first, why did the} hoi di - 

' hie di ,; IP ; r 

teeth the I H I not- 

Cabinet Ci ill, were no such dread- 

ful off obliged to follov, Mr. Vau Buren's example 

1 wis- 

dom of the President in calling no Cabinet Council to delibe- 
rate, here, :ould have bee harmony in their consults* 

il""-, and on the single question said to have been Bubmittedj 

Executive Cabinet 
todecide. He is nol com| etei t to di eide on aL 
Hon, who throws out of irtev, on the aui lion of how Bhe 
should ben, and, bar guilt di win cence. I will not conde- 
scend fuithn to refer to the Hash will, which the jail : 

"limed for mouths, and unless the Sen- 
ator bom Mississippi has bettei ej id, nee than the public has 

>'et seen, the hope of 1, ,,| ,| |C U t 1 1 |g Ml'. Villi Bltl'iMl |H the dlS- 

■ that preceded the dissolution of the Cabinet, ie for- 
lorn. 

Let us si e the next in the catalogue o£ the Senator 

| i (Mr. Poindexter.) Mr. \ an 11, :n intrigued 
•h,n of the late cabinet, taking cars previously to 
securi a safe and prominent retreat in the mission to England, 
Ii is known to every well informed man in this district that 
Mr. Van Buren, by his admirable temper, his conciliating 
manners and, unwearied exertions, kept the cabinet together 
long after its discordant materials were so well ascertained 
ihnt its dissolution sooner or later was a matter of common 
speculation. Sir, nobody doubted that the parties could oof 
get on together, and the only surprise was, that the President 
did not proceed to restore harmony bv the removal of those 
who disagreements produced the iliscord. But Mr. Van 
Hue, had frie unparalleled effrontery to resign on motives oi 
delicacy and disinterestedness, and as this mode of conduef 
was so unusual, it has excited a vast deal of surmise and 
wonder. The Senator from Mississi ipi (Mr. P.) has howev- 
er, satisfactorily to himself, solved the mystery: Mr. VanBu- 
iged himself into a prominent place, Before he re- 
signed, and a new cabinet to suit his ambitions views. Now, 
sir, as to the proof of this preconcerted o.-nmgement for his 
accommodation and elevation. The President told some- 
body, who was a late Seeretary, thai Mr. Van Buren was to 
go' to England, and named to him she Secretaries, who were to 
come in; but this was after Mr. Van Buren bad resigned. 
In the interview it is acknowledged that Mr. Van Buren's 
letter of resignation was handed tc this volunteer repeater of 
confidential conversation with the Chief Magistrate. But the 
Senator says it was before the letter was published — thence 
he concludes blr. Y. B. had made a car's paw of die President 
for the promotion of his owii view-si a most logical inference, 
truly! And this new cabinet arranged to further Mr. V. 
B.'swaholy ambition! Is there man, woman or child in die 
4 



20 



country o know and feel thru the change ha« .nationof these incensed 8enfitora,axKine;upan pnhlir grounds, 
■ i the piiblir, dial tl ,,,,.., , .until— painfil luty ! 



more virtue, mi! more harmony ] 

i who wi baza rd hi n 

hat tin ■ . ■ ■ 

individual influence, as the lot P substitu- 

ted for | hi.-, d , pit, that 

■ i ml than ba i ■ i i 

llui this n to E by Mr. Van l!'» 

r that it was nhiro by the Presi- 

■ ■ 

01 ■■,..- 

d to the honor and welnureol the Da- 
tum. In S Long known 
. olitician and as a in ei in ths 
hour of pi ill but our honor 
— a witness of hia movements whi rer t and in 

tie, and 
of toe great majority of the people, I have 

Mi. Van Buren which re lealment, pallia- 

tion or colurtiig — never any thing to Ii-shcii Ins character a« a 
B man — nothing which he might not desire 'o 
i e expose I to the scrutiny of every membei of this body, with 



i in die jnatrue- 

1 ■ omake buttheirease, the honora- 

M Kj nfocky, ha i 

us a sketch oi Uie history of the Weal India i 
Both brought don n thi 

M ' d Mr, G en during t).- 

rration. Prom this , 
found a conv< nient 

nu to the ini ti Ifr.McL W . 

i | 

H i ■ oi Parliament n I by the 

United Stales, Amers 

. from the Bruit li Wesi India pom Why this imj*>r- 
lani mti n eled, w e have been just told bj 

nator from K mtucky : "the laic administration weir ignorant 

bl Par] qi i nul it was casually - 

11 It wan not offi i Govern- 

ment ti' ■ i >. menu" "listen when w< v. errColo- 

wenenot boun B acuof Parhament, unleaa 

I lead: is it w seibli that the 
late admii Ikl do1 know an net of Par Hornet 

' Where were al ! iu 'I n.i.i- 



the calm confidence of un milled integrity. He is oajted b Britain, that this Go- 



artful man- -a giant of artifice — a wily magician. From 
whom dues lie receive these opprohioua names] Prom open 
In the inii-; of all the 
have been brought againal him, in aha 
varying than those of Proteus, and thick aa 

■ eyj the vale oi vo >, ■■■ hi re is 

■i malignant baa G xed it] on him 

honoral I 

ad by a nor, and regulating his eoi 

d principles, this is no i ; but, if the i 

re or/cm, he must be more 
thi Devi bim If, to have thus avoided the snares of t 
iends. 
I lir, that he should have escaped, hod he 

been otherwise than pure, i torent of his u 

human character, I 

rversaries, 

seeing his rapid advance to lie honoi 

dance, in what is the natural remit of those simple 

causes, l-.vtraur. Unary inlrnt, untiring iltdusu y. 

vigi ance, the I 

■ 

ampled success,— the magic arm — the e 

resorted in his eventful Kfe; Tie 
envy his success, may learn wisdom from hi 

H sd of the ueof Se atot from Mis- 
sissippi, k' me advert to ch ! by a little or- 
my ol objections on the other side of this chamber H 

many sacrifices of fee i witness! 

:'M : • Delaware, 
'1 Ohm and Kentucky, are constrained by duty 

his nominal; 
no | n\ . ■ 



is not informed of this measure, Known to all 
Europe, and taken advai mom of the jKiwers in- 

rcrestrd in it. Bui it was not officially communicated to 
Well, Mr, was ii officially communicated to any i 
rnment, interested in its conlants vvevaei i 
British Government I have considered 

i sflection upon our si-errdued 
I i - 'I them I" '. we 

u an act, supj i 
■ i duty ■-■.-;■ tninas- 

onts about ; h 

i . • rmaiiaa 1 

lint tlie last excuse in ■ , vefl when Colo- 

whieh we 

^ ..■■■. ■ ! and ii is 

nonchu] ii, that we are not new 

hound , CIS Of Pttrli criattu nnd 

aficiaUu communicated tout. I in i gine 

id to 
thing «"ir inti mihistral i( n 

fail- 
ing toatU i .ii to tl • hibIy upon tne inti I 

The act was, howi , and 

when Mr, G nted liimsalf to negotiate, with in- 

I ted, 
oud had prevented an am Uiunungly told, 

you have lost youj n — h< phvilesje^HeMoit 

fered, had not been secured by accent rng the conditions): we 

i ■ 'ir i 1,-ir . Wr|), gir, 
. what said the admin Attn h the honorable Sena- 

tor from Kentucky (onm ( '..n- 

[ gress, rivj ii ini >g, on die ><■ Itntifh W^«t Iiulia 

against us, an in ti - roclamatipn. Smarting 

•(■is taunting refusal inncgotiaie, what was done I 



' P. , " rider ti.is taunting retus.ii tonr^oiintr, what wan done 7 the 

m-ninM private n-elmc, is thi And 

u \r n ' y 'luerunc he pro- 

" ■'■ '"'r-. "' ''"" ,; ' ..I,, before tl.cm'. ■ ,rin» the whoS 



H ' -mr, hear. I Eel intry by 

structioni to the late M I ■ B . , M M I 

aHtmi vl India trade. Whai instruci I it be 

thow on which the act of 1830 passed— tho* which 

among mir nrmted documenis for these twelve montha. 
farming part of tl,.* President' - | ion to Congress of 

Jon. I H ■ nenUemen who ate now so 

ted nt the J' i , i§h -lie nu- 

f thi* rssaWna) disgrncp, Iwen n!< r | os 1 *— no 

on* tn try out, to ring the sU i 
Publie ho., or was exposed— i, 

I . *s . . • . I 

""h tl 1 1 ■■■■■-. ..., c , ni . eonsumm 

p, passing an act with their knowledgs of these insi 
timw, to secAire thr boof^ which ihey now *rr ws 
I 
' iudi^rmiwn nt this firm art of degradation 
in the history of American l 

[acIc it here !_ rW lour is ir F.nee ha who 
was ■),.- ins rtment to how us dow* |<Tote Great Britain, 
was r— 
trust 

^ to hear mr punn 

by whom they were giv*n, is too | Uff h 
srnt ; the amlior of uV cri 

nib* » , 



. un initnimeni 10 now us .tow'rv |<Tote Great Britain, 
i unanimous:. ,.,r nnt 

t7 llu: the iimTnirnrnthy wliomlkfl « 
hear the punishinem. Tlie author of i 



inonths Iwfore the meei ' rcss and during the whofel 

session, to see if < who had baen pjvssjas- 

■ ssion from ■!>• admmist 

[ i. -I.- red Bie eclol of a ni gotii t on- te ihe 

* hieh )ie hnii , 
K 
I We nil 

II 

a illmsr to take the 
by G ssu Britain. The 
s ed a hi] — tin H der tha influence ■ I 

■ d it, nnd the qut I 

he trodden. 
i lerminated widioul 1- ■ 
■ill then, thi 
Thus, sii. 
minister, out administi 
oi Grcn! Britain for ac 

Tl»e u 
-. 
which we hai 



ictrnenl, OJld 

lietion vraa 
Itntish 
trade in t)i< I 

to cover it- 

>. nnd 
"ile. 
■ 

1 1 ' i c - 
V 
•;rs, i lie 



" late admimstrnii'in, in ^1 t'Jal- 

3Q|Wnius1iat^falUailthi mdig. . ,.^ inB , n . Ar hM>>#nsnTS hfs 



27 



fare. He was again repulsed. But this humiliation was not 
enough; Mr. Barbour wassentto Lond. 

instructions, anJ went, cap in hand, 1 iking ai the closed 

door for negotiation. Sir, he knocked at the doorol the Bri- 
tish Ministry, under circumstances humiliating in the ex- 
treme. If agentleman should go a second time 10 u l.uuse, 
the proprietor of which, speaking.from his window, hod di- 
rected his porter to deny him' i e visiter, his visit would 

have been somewhat like Mr. Barhour'a s sond call ics, 
sir ; yet the humiliation was vain — the second as fruitless m 
the first. , 

Such was die condition of .this question, when General 
Jackson was placed at the head of the country. One of the 
fir»t ohjecis of his administration was the recovery of the Bn 
tisli West India trade] em arrangement of il uj on b n 
just reciprocity, satisfactory to both parties, an I therefore, pro- 
mising to be permam ut. Mr. McLane was selected to 
E igiand, and these much abused instructions prepared by the 
late" Secretary of Slate. Let it he remembered sir, these are 
instructions from the President of th'' United Stales to the 
American Minister, m ver intended for the eye of the British 
government, ami which m no other country hut ours, would 
ever have seen the light. . 

The opening of the negotiation was the chiei difficulty.— 
To remove it, two grounds are taken. It willbe remembered 
that our refusal to accede to the terms of the aot of Parlia- 
ment, was made the ground of refusing to treat wi'h Mr. 
Gallatin and Mr. Barbour, both of whom wenl prepared 10 

otter an arrangement hv rei ip >l legislation, taking U 

of Parliament as the British legislation. T thedif- 

ficulty after a fair and full history of the trans i i 
suggestions are presented to Mr. McLane, to be pr, seed so far 
M& might deem, it -iuefvXand proper solo do. Ifthe B 

cish persist in refusing to hear -\ , on this subject, remind 

them of the circumstances that have occuTredj o the ditter- 

enceof opinion among ourselves on it; of th andonmi nl 

by the administration of thoBe pfl te a thai had prevented an 

adjustment of it; that they are out to be again brought for- 
ward! that the past administration was not ameni 

British Government, nor to any other than ot tne 

United Slates, who had po leduponal! then i Say to 

the British, if it makes pretensions formerlj advanced, the 
pretext for still declining to negotiate, the sensitohiy of the 
Wican people will be (fee ly awakened, rhat the tone of 
public feeling bv.a course so unwise and untenable will be 
iXavated by the known fact thai Greal I! itoin had 
he? colonial pons to Russia and France, notw.ths ending as.- 

SaVomissiontoacced their parte, t termsoffered 

ac of Parliament. And this, si-, is represented as tl 
t u age of entreaty, as the begging of a boon, this m 
Sf the puhhc indignation; this declaration that the lot. 
ministration waentither to be cens in A or prt i id by foreign 
nations; was amenable for their conduct to no earthly tribu- 
nal but the peopleofthe United Slates, istortured into s claim 
of privileges, on party grounds for party] o , ad as a 
disgraceful attempt to throw upon a prey^us administration 
unmerited disgrace, for the sake of currying favor with a fo- 
reign, power, and that power ot all others, (.real Bj . am. 

Great Britain could not resist this frank andppen and man- 
ly appeal. Coi itted b} their concession in favorof France 

and Russia, and the Ministry distinctly told by Mr. McLane, 
that he would not remain if they declined negotiation, or pla- 
ced their refusal upon any other ground than an open decla- 
ration that their interests could not permit them to enter mo a 
reciprocal engagement with the United Sates, the English 
Cabinet reluctantly yielded; and then came the mnstohous 
feature in this transaction, that which has sharpened the in- 
tellect of the opposition, to discover dishonor in truth, and a 
want of dignity in a fraalt-exposition of facts, Uscrownmg 
success. Mr. McLane and Mr. Van Buren under Gen Jack- 
son, succeeded in effecting an ohjec. of puhhc »Uc.tud^ 
Mr Adams and Mr. Clayand Mr. Gallatin and Mi . Baibour 
couldnot obtain. The country was humiliatedby the prece- 
ding administration without success; hence the charge against 
Mr Van Buret,; hence the overwhelming anxiety to prove 
that the success of the late negotiation has been purchased by 
humiliation. The Bi itish cabinet desired not to make the a, - 
rangement, it interfered with great local interests, and if they 
could, without a inan.ies, and unjust distinction- to our preju- 
dice, they would have declined admitting the U. Slates to the 
privileges granted to the other maritime powers, 

Not satisfied with his condemnation of Mr. Van Buren s 
instructions, the S snator from Kentucky attempts to show us, 
by referring to another letter of instructions how this artair 

■Dl 



should have been conducted consistently with his ideas oi na 
tional honor and dignitv. The letter from winch he has read 
to the Senate extracts/is, I think, signed H. Clay. Will the 



Senator tell us who is responsible for it 1 If he is, then he ex- 

I hihits himseif in the singular position of a man triumphantly 

1 contracting the work Of his own hand, with that of a rival 

[author. The Senator knows that there were two other in- 

' structions, written by himself of a subsequent date, one^o Mr. 

Gallati C failedto ;ii anotherto Go- 

Barboui; neither of which is before us, therefore, nut 

to be contrasted with -Mr. Van Buren's work. I am content 

t0 alml' i ult of a contrast of the instructions he has 

: ,.".., with tliose he lias quoted. Let us see how the 

i ■ willbearthe test of examination. Sfr.Ga] 

latin, he says, was not instruct d to abandon a right; we were 

to be at liberty ata more convenient si on to rj -nine it Mr. 

Gallatin « b trong proof of oui di - ire to icili- 

atebyati ipo f what we had previous clai- 
med th nhoul the whole negotiation. Was Mr. Golla- 

ivto the British Government, this is atem- 
,„„.,■ i' n ' .\ .sir, he was authorised to waive the 
,., lln , ni on the British basis. l>i t 

this in :,and what was it; stript of its dip- 

lomatic Ira and it is neither more nor less 

than an abandonment of a pretension, which, though we had 
supported by argument, we were resolved not to enforce by 

in truth is the common 

trick of diplomacy , it dec. , uid had Mr. Gallatin 

presented tin aeconciliati i ■ ■ theymusthaye been 

!u, : ,i iota! abansjsnmentol our pretension. 

The honied v s of right waived &x>maconeibotoryspint,and 

wuii the hope of corresponding friendly dispositions, would 

with a sneer, lurking in the official— *rtin- 

• The Senator 

howevi i, il " al °"- If "was a 

aived orsurrendered'fForconciIiationsakel 

u the offended party. England had taunted 

UB • England had reft i twice, thrice, to negotiate. 

am l yet te conciliate England, « were waivmgawell 

led right! For what pui ere we thus concuia- 

To place the trade on its preset to the great 

injury of the navigation and com roe oi the United States. 

Sucti istheviewi iw taken by several 1 able Senators 

who h iv ■ favored us with iheii i| i li m on this subject. 

The present administrati in waived n irighl for conciliation 
sake; sacrificed no principle. It stood upon the truth, and 
truth only ; and whatever may be the custom of others, and 

the oid. ' li ''"'• '"' strauon was 

! riMii Nations fold themselves in the robes of falsehood, and 
Bweli an I Btrut in vain, to preserve an air of dignity and deco- 
,„n. N . nation ever was just to its own character, or pre- 
' served its dignity, that did nut stand at all tunes before the 
I world, in the sober ami simple garb of truth. Sir, the cliar- 
i ,, dipl imac rhas .... lergone o .narked change; we 
arenolonge, ! .and artifice; all our wiles are 

factsand reas all our artifice, truth and jusuce. The 

honorable Senator tells as that this instruction is false or 

else n proves Mr. V. B. to have been criminally ignorant of 

what i was h,s duty to know. How does he make this ap- 

, ' 1 He all. — 'that Mr. V. B. charged the late admmis- 

! tration * ith being the first to advance the pretension it sub- 

, :,, enily abandoned-lnd this he declares ,s untrue, thepre- 

■ii'ii.i. before thai ^-'f7«- 

power. Now, sir, as I read this paragraph, Mr. V B. does 
,ot char- the late administration with being the fiist to ad- 
vance ,1ns pretension. The Senator will recollect this is a 
lette, ... Mr! McLane, whose personal knowledge is appealed 
to, and who musl have understood thfwnteras alluding to a 
fact of general nol iriety. The words are "those who pu 
advanJed." d>c. have subsequently abandoned. Can any 
man mistake the meamng-tfie meaning perfectly m accor- 
dance wiili the fact? The pretension was advanced by the 
use of the famous elsewhere in our act of Congress an act 
known to have been penned by Mr. Adams, who had previ- 
'ouslv occupied the ground covered by it, in his instructions to 
M Ru'l l«sMr. Adams who'first advanced and aban- 
doned this ground. The credit or the odium, winch eve 
lm belongs in justice to the act, attaches to Mr. Adams, and 
,M. RcLnecould only have understood ,,, and so must 
ihe S -uator from Kentueky, if he examines with a desire to 
understand it in the spirit of the author. 

There are considerations connected with Mr V. 15. It I 
deemed ,t consistent with his honor, thai 1 could present to 
S that hear me, that would not fail to make a deeper im- 
pression upon the,r minds. But I ask no »»"W$W££J 
forbearance ; no recollection of ^^ a S n ^Z J/ Alness 
to no one to imitate his mildness and courtesy and ^ulnes* 
n his deportment here, nor to judge, ftim as he judged* » « 
rob for fame and power. I demand for him nothing butjuv 
tice— harsh— harsli just we. 



2S 



EXTRACT i 

lHR.HO > SE< OND SPEECH* 



The genUeniao from Nfew-York (Mr. H I i;>;>owfl,in 
adverun on, which 1 un 

Stho dominant party in hit State, thai 1 
«ctcd upon the character "t thai State ; and be alii 
; - existed lor .-in yeai a with ever) 

iv, and wiiH i igorou - ; i i igo, by my 

pan farther from my intention tlwun to re- 

: 

On the i ry, 1 - noble 

institutional us apl i works, and its enterpria 

intelligence. But I must, pronounce my 
practice to which I allude, i withwhoini 

whether friend or foe, or by whom ii may be coni 11 I tl. Ii 
has be ' administration toe i 

extent m Kentucky. Almost every official incumbent who 
• and who wae 

within the executive reach, hat been buried from office; 
whilst thoee who voted for him have I, no matter 

how long they had been in their stations. It is no 
in Kentucky by the State Government, a hi 
the opposition to this adnunistration. Very lately, G 

calf-' I ■ of tin- three highest judicii 

tione in tin s r of tlits administration. The 

gentle iiirui appointed i* a nephew oi thi 

rylui ■■ niul 

o than twenty other 
lawyers in the State be I to 1 
Governor also renewed oed se- 
veral gentli i ed to nun in politics, as attorneys for 

the ' fi >m w 'i'V. eali L 

the Presadentof one of the Banki from the ranks of the friends 

of tins administration, ami several other officers. 



Mlt. MAIU V*S ltr.M\KKS. 

Is* rkim.\ Mi av. 

Mr. President : 1 will trouble the Senate with a f« w words 
in answer to what has just I 
from Kentucky. He did not intend, 
hisam'ti n i to the whol< Stat Vew-1 

(y to the 

Minister to L M f B j i: 

tative tojhe condust of ] 3uve, o*w of 

■ueha restrieted application. If then has been airy thing 

. ohti- 
cal i"i i full share : if any ■'■ 

ii favor of thi 

I recurre 
— if it is a i their prac- 

tice when they get poi "S/, than 

who are selected a* i,.e pari I 

refer !•■ r- i G 

I the wo from 

I 
mem 

Til-- truth i", pit, 
the j 

d on this oca 
It" tli 

t ■ what we 

M try land 
^ . - differ from 

Stn-' l :" them have l 

and arc actuated by til 

by reason' in their cimui W 

there is alternation of success and • • will be re- 

movoli in by those who use 

power, and pi 

I i speak of only 

— friendly retained in Nev. 

> t 

mm! S md I ran n*-' 



• 

\ B 

I 

which i 

ii my 

■ 
I 



■ 






M. 



■ 
spcrs on puohe i 



their social intercourse. They may present themselves or 

tented in this light to the bonon . but I am 

mi so presented to others, for that is not their 

mdition. Their political predUecuom and heniimente 

are ni ! by fear or expressed in wh lepers— their op- 

id active and some; tinea noisy, and yet they 

I'listurbcd posdrsuion of tllC 

I nmst ogam allude to the s^nundsoi the lemovul of some 
euboni. by the present administration, in order 

thai it may be understood ujon whut principle the act m vin- 
dicated, and to repel the charge of wanton proscription. The 
itiea of the hue administration were such that it com- 
pelled btane in the struggks, 
Man] a. .nest of the fight; they wen 
(or the ni-wsjiajiers, and the distributors of 
thereby aaoj Ives to the 
i ml,- iu whii t whom the 
governrnenei are waged. If among 
aa of officers there wan more mortal; upon 
diet, it was because tin- re we leasa. 
'I | ., 8< a) ii from Kentucky hns denounced removals frenn 

office as a violation of the freed of opinion, and the liberty 

a. He advocates a Course of conduct to- 

wardi poUucaJ opponents, characterized by great niodemtion 

,u what i- much mod . he professes to Lave 

rVe all of n*j I behave, 

and feel disposed in our ab- 

ts m aathe rule of our conduct. 

eautifolt but sir, so weptKtbesin 

{I .. nt f I u .mid ask the 
baS| himwdf, practiced them? I will 
not say he has not, assures us lie has; but I will 

say thi if hie public conduct has ex|K>sed him to a 

suspicion of having departed from the path which be 
now | omu out as tin tt:- ftjdernd into 

thai which h' tMJW thinks it is no censurable for otlicn to 
have punuf d. 

It will be recollected, sir, that there is conmderable patro- 
nage attached to the Department of State. To it appertain! 
the selection of the newsaapers la which the law* of the 
I'mfi | 8 puhu'shecL I wall wa>etabaf that while 

laud of that D> |*runent, 
ami when the fortunes of the late administration una to 
wane, tin- patri ng the laws wan witnenvo 

from certain public journals Which had lone enjoyed it. — 

f thie i liauc— this nsmoval from of- 
I I may call it J It was not B violent and vin- 

dictive oppoeil existing administration. B 

a in winners agninsl it. — 

No sir, it was for liikcwnrmuess— 4 A waul of 

zeal in the cause of tl t administration was alleged to be the 

offence; proscription was the punishmi nt When was tlien 

that Ban. . of opinion anil the hbertv 

which we now hear so highly extolled. 

ft lontrol public opmioa through the 

medium of the press, and to being thut press into a subser- 

i the men in 

s i. I wisfa not (•» i*' mil n 1 have not alluded 

things far the purpose of accusation. 1 do i 

complain of the menu swrable Senator used 

encrusted io him ; bu I tamthathehaa 

tine body 'he cooduci of a toliucaJ par- 

\ k as a theme 

aore mo- 
aeration andtol iSai ot hsiown personal ami no- 

titical f ! Siate, wlien lucoodueicksss not dinar 

from thnt pursued by political men in oilier Slates; end when 
Ltion, if it needed one, in U»e hoooiable Sena- 
Imi'sowo SXaV 

.n-wnrJiipi^re" — wj 

\\ i ,r as we have seta nun in the 

Senate h we do almost m'or- 

vs do admire ■pint-stirrinc. elevating, and 

seal all within us of manlinesi 

and pride amnteti, nn ' »ps and hurry 

. willing, and 
r i mfoun- 

wr have not 

:o flniB' Bsi star and the 

.ukine of iIk K \ cinius — tiie 

- 
J md his effort I' at and his ab- 

a- f une, while po- 
ind ilie true 
this Republic. 
-.nuke to 



»o 



apoataf 
tegrity, 



and noble in its display of Winona] and politic 
Ibutanepisodetothe speech already pubUsl 

SKETCH OI- MR. FORSYTH'S SPEEl II, 

IN REPLY TO MB. MILLER. 



Mr PREs.ur.NT ;-We were told by the S r who ha. 

iu.Ycon-lud.,1 „■ the beginning of !,,-■ 

CthTfnSnded I.lifh bia remarks fo. h 

lu;;, TfS of .v.. Van Bare,, will complain of the ful- 

"oT^loi'lUttfX so „..,..,• M,V. B 

was natural lha. the Senate. .1 Id begin will 

heme He says General Jackson has b. i 

het&susoffcsownzealand devotion to the 1 ol N 

Orleans: and read extracts from his- own 

aw*, when he u^., .is auditors that' 

nature" wm " a sufiicienl guaranty" fbrthe General i local 

Sgd .-' How do 

duced this dreadful separation 1 No evid ' *tfn 

teUand, with due deference to the S ; - 

Sat he w« only mistaken i. his hist. 

of nature" was noi BOBtroog agBai intj 

SuTTwhat is insinuated: facTl II <■ 

gottenhis local attach nts, the land of 1 oi his 

lor iest affections, where heV , [tewadi dd.sm- 

lerested friends! No,ari it isno. '• ^" ' 

'„ .'as no, separated f,<,u, 8 I a, nor bus 

Carolina yet withdrawn from hi n 
seemstobeonrues.lv hunting upcaunes foi a divorce. 

The ra heal party ... S h Caroline th. I 'M8- 

ha^ the sSatoVsays, given in th 
edmo ves.o Mr. Van Bureau., -.1,. . '' 

dtncT-ondthiei. another of H«s cmm. ' 

no know thutiiis true thai, hey desire tie £ 

Van Eur,,; I , th | might go f utter andfixrf 

and fare much worse and noi go .|u. • - i-.i. For tiinvsup- 

nosXnterestedadheB theyarestig ti I <j ' 

then- S errors. I am treading, far. 1>, sident, upon e 

fori dden ground; travelling Into, oeighb S 

n^^fsplrty strife; butl feel forth. R 
U . Sniss we acted logethc. ... by-, m> tra* 

alike still and ifl were no. to I m their b. 

dew Senators from S ,ty opposed to 

hem a ho they might eh ••■ to I.— '•■■ 

wCtef&aVnotguiltytoth. cl 

Z I'nd-rth - e , ■ ' 

Saltans cWpontnTanti-nullifiersofSo I 

„ 1 Sting up the evidence, shall prove thai thej art u 

eharged^W is this evidence iTh, S whp makes 

StecWeeon the question of the Seminole war, stood bj the 
G ne a °wk h unless and zeal ; defended him ai< I 
wrong The radicals were among lus censurers, ..... he 

q\,es,on,se,oph ally asked, when- v G ithenl 

Georgia then was where she .s now, and when urus sh, 
^Sfver be found, by .the side of the Union 
SerLhtandreprehendi^thew.ong.lTheSene 
Wine thai true patriotism consists ... t, 
frknas, in ceasing to disc, imioate between truth an 1 error - 
Such .snot our Sieorv— for violated laws, we hold all re- 
sponsible, friekds and fobs. Recent developments have 
snown that General Jackson had means ot defence he ais- 
damed to use, bnl if there is one Georgian, one Rathe 
regrets the pari he took on that transaction, I th 
mf he is unknown. I trust, Sir, that to attone fo. h 
error in defending what he now msinuates was wbosg he 
does not, under the rower of some master feeling, .mend to 
censure everv thing that is right. 

Mr. Cobb and Mi. Crawford have been named by the Seho- 



was a candidate, brought forward by lha. party, for the State 

rut— and th. ing f » r lw0 >' 

elevation of the accomplished gentleman who now stands at 
. lection of that fact should 

, them ol being from seUisn 

■I 10 the >i a. .1 power: [OUOW- 

n sun. lo<hls 
, i lo noi plead foi ih. m, not guilty— they do tal- 
low like the scn-floweb— the Bun-flower doeB not change 
its attitude for the ri ' ,,|n f Bun - 

| i 10 tothe li, htol heaven, tl stands ....- 

„ he i ii p ' ' 8t00d .* 8 

Ovid d. s '' jr ,s n ,- i :' lwl ' llt '" 

i u. nrnnp I and the rharge 



hhn'ndMr Crawford have been named by I he Sena- ter into lurther mquiiy, x repeal "•=•=""-■ 
C ™ no h,,Tger among us to answer. He did ,„-„ denial, ... the name o at. 



tor Mr. i 

L' duty, according to his conception of that duty, in this rind 
every other act of Ins public life. His fiiends_know Biathis 
conduct was open, and his modves pure TEe ground The 
stood upon here, he never abandoned while he toed. Mr. 
Crawford, 1 am surprised the Senator should think.— , Mi. 
Miller said he alluded to Mr. Crawford (Joel) am. 
the House of Representatives when the Seminole 
was agitated.) I am glad to be corrected. Mr Joel C ... af- 
ford acted with his friends, and is guilty of the charge ot 
having voted for inquiry into the Seminole war. He lives 
to remember, not to regret that act. 

This union potty, which seems to haunt his imaginatwn, 
if lorn not strangely mistaken, had the honor a short time 
since, to number Wi as a member ot it. (Mr. Miller denied 
that he had eve,r # been.} Well, Sir, the Senator ought to 
know : but in this fact, I oarniot be mistaken— the Senator 



Ovid .; »«= *>■=""'— - ■•-■ •• v ■■■■ 

,uel the charge 

,s thai S iuui Carolinians, unfriendly 

,.• no will but the President's, and are obe- 

(V. i expect shoals of thi , ..mgastne 

COU- 

Moallu ion c I aave beenmore 

unfortun Who ' '" atwhom this 

" seckers ; 
rughlyofhuchoraclfr. 

; .amis 

r con- 
ire such men ' ' ,lev °- 
It so— what are 

thept trioi I Th. ... i b. an -. They. ... ioi be men. 

•I s ■" ,st of , " 

mem in the - w "° 

I ■ bis opponents by their Byte, 

... ,,g to 
,. of any of South 

Carolina :S - ... , , u . 

Tl ' ,, 

Govej Ham- 
ilton v Secretary ol War, but for 
his violence again if i and what seemed to h»ve 

„ enom ,„ .; South Carolina was not only 

'' ror ' 

of tlieDom Darnel of N?w- 
y ork | g difficult to pleas. II l*ed not 

Buthowwai 

Ho G ... Hi Iton'l If my n 

. he might have had 
not desire it. I" this, and in 

p. '.""- 

G i for a member of the 

lies; Cabinet, does th S ' hi choice of 

rhe ,.,., v ,, : was tl,.- work ol Mr. Van Burenl 

,M, \\ r nodded an asseng The Senator never commit- 

Of all the men ot the day, 

admitted to 

j I -lank he is the las. man whowould have been se- 

\| \ !'■ sure! ... Mr. VanBuren is 

,!„,,, , whose influence the late Attorney 

G ralwouldluu ing toowe 1 lis place. 

Consider, Di and the fosterer of the dis- 

, rs of the govern- 
U '. B tobeai the extremity ol the Sena- 

Mi I' ■ .. lean only refer 
the Senate to the explicit and prompt denial of the ]«*■«« 

the used, long since publicly made, 

and neve, ' one having a claim to 

t.ae the public prove .hat the 

., of a distempered brain, baseless as 

c ofavis.on. Hthe Senator has any desire to en- 

e „„„ further inquiry, I repeat here tins explicit and nosi- 

.. _»-„., «k^ D v.» f.-..-nfl- ana if ne ven- 



tivf. ilniut in rne name oi an uu&cm. »«-»»i» ; -— 

M V re ligation, 1 plSge myself to satisfy even 

sure occn. ie,l mind,-, hat not a shadow ot suspicion can rest 

Fan Buren'sfame. I speak on the highest autho 

', w '., I state to the Senate, that his deportment in rela- 

S'tTSS controversy, deserves the respect and admiration 

honorable and delicate mind. ■ 

TheSobe! t he Globe! the official paper has abused the 
Senator and his friends. The editor was brought here by 
M Van But™, and he is accountable tor all it contains; all 
thai is bad, I mean-he gets cred.t for no good, appear where 

" Thfs charge is made because the Globe is called the Go- 
ven ne . a,.ei, Mr. Van Buren and the Government being 
p evlousl/ idemffied I must not be «*ffi*J«*J?J&. 
fending the Editorial management of the Globe. I see y. un 
regret many attacks on persons tor matters dial ought not to 



ao 

I detest all in v. ■■' > Bonn. I will not .piurrrl witli I 



pnv:" 

Say bi TI 

are known to the people; 

i ■'. ill I- wei l 

sue recrii ' ■ eeuaure. — 1!" 

I do nor i!i administraJ 

responsiWe lor thi 
of any in v. 

as ill. niHied 

ed by 
But doe* the 

who aide in the est ihlisl mi if an 

fnr its "t that In* fi 



tor's choice. II- ma] take either branch of the alternative 
ii ild both. 

I i I'll- array of farts in support of Ills charge of 

corrupt management against Mr. VanBuren, reminds me of 

-nil to have h Krancc. There ia it 

h ii ;litiiL r us an action to recover dainugcs for se- 

imiy lie brought by an unfortunate lady who 

lias listen A j ratty 

lady who J parted witl ailed oo 

i suii fur the dejnages she had sustain* 

ed. -S 1 1 ■ -on, tha 

me of its dura- 
tion, and then iis fnial end The advocate listened with pru- 



and ;i I ] nil saw that it was one of those 

ask In.: the history ol in which il was difficult to say who was in fault, the 

m flu:- Distrit t for a -D r the gentle la ly, and that an action could not be main- 

r i ; in.' \\ . I '■ 'In- taint ll wl nvey ilus. without oflbnding 

W i; ' .' I 1 the difficulty. All l .. of all pro- 

\ .1 1 — H Cessions, avoid that as the deadliest of sins. The advocate 

present to In- n the atrocious calumnies by which proverbial skill uf hia profession and of 

they I : dark insinuations and \I idam it would give me n -ore to 

falsehoods, i of il"' virtuous of both I obey your wiahea ana punish the irurrate a. nrated 

aexea has been wantonly and g IS I f from so much beauty ; butl am obliged Id toll Jfou 

flown — still ffiea to all comers of our country as if borne 011 that the facts are not sufficient to support an action. Tins 

the wings of the wind. 10 the lady, as she had tieen very mi- 

If all these thing! are present to hi Mall the facta Pouting and petulant she 

thatthoaewl tronizi books and briefs. The whole affair 

■ forgotten-by him: but in the course of a few davs the 



l Ins own roll ' I' l>e i 
l • a I ■ 

■ Mr, Pot B 



holy Imr-it triumphantly into his room, exclaiming with joy- 
t, sir, he seduced me again this 
morning. And so it is with the S His facts, like the 



Ihorit , S3 ou ask that qi i . President lady's, i!i. not go to the point he must reach to effect Ins pur 

said lin he had a right to - like unto the other, and all like the seduc- 

aak the ill .ruing. 

I t 

-if ih. Se .• I ^'i BROWN, on the conclusion of Mr II AYNF.'S re- 

directe ki Miller marks, admired partus rot to pursue thisdiaeussion . itcuuld 

Ml I mind was no doubt made up. 

n the Let ua vote, and avoid any further irritation, already toogreat, 

i The Vice P 



floor. Mr P 1 

being und I 

[Mr. MILLER 
the rule by wl 

nis fri. 

i replie Itotri 

8 

1 

I. 

i: 
w '. !'■ I 

< \ H 
I 

, il damn hi 

■ ' of llllS 

I 

,1 

Van B r tlw Chief M 

istral I' 

- 

- 

I 

ed ■. 

II 

1 

1 






\| FORSYTH said, 1 am aware of the propriety of ths 

\ .il. Carolina, and do not 

Tlu- geatetnan who has just 

taken 'i II I his opinion — he 

—■that is Ins affair — he lias founded 

it on . ' - -iosed 

\ r than that 

public, has bean referred to by him. Wo 
what we do not see. All this is for the 

jtidci. -. The honoralde v •■» said tliat 

lotion, was 
. nf Mr. V. H. This I must deny. 
I .in nf that -.ei - was ti Si ualnr from 

M Hi Webster] who is not to be num ■ 

■ 

■ ■ tsary 

ii anv form 

I • .n will soon 

•y the result. 



is or Del 



rl IRKS OF MR. BROW > OF "». C. 

ON MR. 1 

M 1'. . ii-l, that unwilling as he had lieen, topartici- 
pate in tins discussion, he could no - , in justice to his own 

nina- 
■ 1 i S. i iaie, re- 

frain fr. .tn of in- 

had 
, a Inch si ruck him as at least extraordinary, 

I with which Mi. Van R" ■ " «•- 

...don 

him. ■ ' •* w *'° 

■ 

„,,,, , uDWarrniit.i whirll 

II ■ . •■ leave 

roaehful cpu but a 

re especially wh -ii ad- 

. should Is- : 



M 

i.siruc- 

i and, in rela 

I • and Grca. 

\S ngall 

v titftii i attach, for 



1 


H 


' hs"»'ii ti 


1 

\ 


1', 


1 wlio had nreo 

• iin esp 
... Mr 11 


hat 1" 







hum, eiions given to our foreign Ministers, whether to the such an an B mncnt, as the late 

President of the United States or to his Secretary of State, he id proffered, at ed to arcomi I 

would concede to those opposed to the nomination, (he [ rinci- Sir, said Mr. II, it appears to mi thai "there lies'the rub;*' the 

pie contended for by them, that the Secretary of State was re- > Mr. Van Buren, he feared with some gentlemen, 

sponsible for his official conduct, to the fullest extent He - not that be had done too Utile, but that he had done too 

knew Mr. Van Btiren too will, to believe, for a in mem, ntudi. Under his auspices as Secretary of State, a restora- 

ihat he would desire that any Bhield should be interpos the Wi India i tdel d ed, which the late 

screen him from a proper responsibility; -be believed he v iona in vain 
sooner court the stm-tes' inquiry, than endeavor to esct 

from it. But to return to the instructions. What was the Ian- 11. call lallyof 

gllage which was deerned so exceptionable! Inorderto stry'si prooiin support of 

move ilie impression, thai a fe ling of hostihtywas felt in I more hon- 

tltis country towards Great Britain, which the improvident 11 Undei nfthegov- 

course of the late administra i in relation to the We I em to this lime, had the m more 



dia trade had produced, the line Secretary of State, h id alhtd 
ed to bit instructions, to the change which the pearl 
United States had made, in thOBe who administered our gov- 
ernment, in the following language: "the opportunities which 

you have derived, from a parucipa i n our public councils, 

as well as other sources of information, will enable you to 
speak with confidence (as far as you may deem 11 proper 
and useful so to do) of the res| ective pans taken by those t" 
whom the aihninistration of this government is ii"«' commit- 
ted, in relation to the course heretofoie pursued upon the 
mhject of the colonial trade. Their views uj b 



lofty elevation ' I ed country, but what 
\ character, '. 

the high) than in this country, 
with whom this dishonoral ctii to have, 
I ich the Pn sident had 
on all i n -us:- n - shown tothi tury- forbade tl e 
.in, that In- would . M'ctions 
i . by which i ( e chat -.i ins country 
was to be compron I ■ "zed the lan- 
guage ot a to the 
i honorable to him. Prom what 



have been submitted to the people oJF the Tinted states, and Preaidi couldasi ritof conciliation and c< ,ards 

the counsels by which your conduct is now diraeti I, an the r i ■■■, iety than from him, by whose 

result of the judgment expreasedby the only earthly tribune me field, hei pi een humbled. 

to which the late adminjatration was amenable foi There is no mark more infallible as regards the degree of 

In making this suL-uesi , Mr. Van Bun a had nan the res'ecta- 

what waa-most true; public opinion had discarded the late bility of tliat nation in oilier com wiiltestify 

administration from power, and the party to whom the pei e truth of the remark, that e on conducted 

of the United States had committed the rems of government, feebly, is o inroad, and that which is conducted 

had been, and were then, favorable to tl proposed arrange- h 

ment. He could therefore recognise in this no soli M :; aid he would m nparison be- 

but io Ins mind, it had more thi ap] nt of our affairs, under the 

ness of verbal criticism, than any thins else. '' there • I led it, and it 

anv thin " in the language winch in- bs would be from no ion, thai the result would not 

sjve tone, as gentlemen had supposed, bj ration. 

further, in the instructions, they would have (bum n ■. \ Buren had, we i • lii ved, v hile acting as Secreta- 

which would effectually have removed all theit ni'i iel. . n- ry ,; > roplishcd more in less tup. I f his 

sions, and shows if the late Secretary of State knew how i ed in 'be new sia- 

to use the language of conciliation, he also knew how. to , 1(in ,„ Y ,-] iness with which 

speak in a tone ofmanly firmness when urging the juste lity with which he had 

of his country: That part of the instructions io which he i, I to act, the ei eJ a I com . i nded 

had reference was as follows: 'If Great Britain deem -i,, i ,1 .... Secretary of State, bore 

adverse tp her interests to alio* us to participate in the trade honor.n 

with her colonies, and finds nothing in the extension of it to It I all,. . that he had introduced 

others, to induce her to apply the same rule tons, she will, into the government of the V. S. the party intrigues and dis- 

we hope, be sensible of the propriety of placing her refusal on cipline a Slate. M thout stopping to 

those grounds. To set up the aetsof the late administration, notice what he consider' , on the iiiblic 

as the cause of forfeiture of privileges which- would otherwise f thia confederacy, 

be extended to the people of the United Sates, won hi, under he called iln se who made tht charge, to support it by proof.. 

exist.m»- circumstences, be unjust m itself, and could nor fail i r wa s honorable to [lie re] utation of Mr. Van Buren, both 

to excite their deepest sensibility. The torie of feeling which public and private, that when his eni isked<ofur- 

course so unwise ttnd untenable is calculated to produce n j 3 h evidence, in support of die charges urged against him, 



would doubtless be greatly aggravated, &c" Here was lan- 
guage, firm and spirited, and indicating any thing else but 

a disposition to vield or eompronnt the honor ot tin- eonutiy, 
and he could not but consider it as extremely unjust on the 
part of the opponents of the nomination, to single out detached 
parts of the instructions without adverting to their general 
tenor, and viewing them as a whole; the only fair rule to be 
resorted to in the exposition of public documents. 

But to come hack to die charge of disgrace which had 1 een 
so stronglv urgedand relied upon. How, sir, hasthe Minis- 
ter to England disgraced his country? Where was the evi- 
dence of the imputed disgrace to be found? Was it to be 
found in the fact that an arrangement has been made betwejJD 
the U. States and Great Britain, in relation to her colonial 
trade, substantially on the very same basis, asthat proposed 
under the administration of Mr. Adams, and were gentlemen 
vha then approved that measure, now prepared to condemn 
the present administration for having succeeded in forming 



that they were unable to fix upon him any one of them, by the 
semblance of proof. Possessing talents of a high order, and 
rapidly gr. wii teem of his countrymen, it was not 

a matter of surprise, that he had been marked out, as the vic- 
tim of persecul 

Mr. B. could conceive of no adequate reason or motives for 
rejecting the nomination of the Minister to England. He 
was peculiarly fitted for the station which he then filled. — 
His thorougb'and intimate acquaintance with the commercial 
relations of the two countries, pointed him out as a tit and 
proper representative of our interests at the Oult of Great 
Britain. The State of New York had repratedly vouched 
for his character and standing, by bestowing on him the 
highest civil lienors within her gift. Mr. B. said, he there- 
fore, considered it a duty, which he owed to the country, and 
to the individual then representing us at the Court of Great 
Britain, to vote for confirming his nomination. 




32 



COKKi;SIM)M)iJM 10. 

Letter of the Republican Member* of the New York Lrgis- 
la.'un \ to the I ' 

Albany, Feb. 9, I 
To his Excell Doy AltDBEW Ja« 

s-ates. 

Sir — The und ■ ■< roance of the duty with 

which the) ; 
tli'* legislature of the state of New V ■ «>r to 

. ■ 
in the Capitol of this a mum. In donuj so, they 

oannol restn ireasionof the feelii nation 

wall which they view the act to which 
refer. 

A great majority "f lh 
pealed evidences of th'' liiL'li estimation in win i h 

held your administration ol the afiain of the oauon. The in- 
flexible, integrity which I public 
lif, — the more than military courage, nriln which the respon- 
sibilities of your high 

constant regard D you to ihe purity of the Con- 

stitution, have strengthened their attachment to your i 
and your gi tve not been regardless of 

the manner in which the sp] v life, 

has l)eeii fol li»wi*ti by the mat 
civil administration, has bestowed upon our country. 

Tins S sd with pi ii' \i \ on 

Buren by your Excel Lei - ■ Oureiti- 

Tenshad given rep< 

Widi the watchfulness becoming a free peopfe, 1 1 » *y h 
gard-'-i ito which he had 

Been called, by the constituted authon s State, T 

had witnessed bin atotchmenl 

prui' i and they had then 

recently ovinci i the extent of their i ■ sting 

him to the thm theu gift. They feU that 

your I . him to a wid 

act of justice to the ■ 

roiidtnmion, and to the character i hisS 
of its people. They cheerful] removal ' 

and freely surreadi n -citi- 

nnto yourealLbei i ecognizedin i lcot> 

firmation of th i high hopes they bag 
of your administration. 

sure, his • ;" ' lency in yoi i 

attempt to n rsd when In* 

wnb trawal from the !• h your par' 

hml exalted him, 

your peace against the ene- 

mies to you - i ■■• 'Id in your 

eontin 

ion could close d yes of your I , to the cause 

of your country, mid no personal '■'Misi.lerationa*»rre>' 
efforts for the common welfare. 1 
nssnulni made upon your pril 
the honor of our country was 

iotiam, whirh bad 
"M ih- walls of New i into 

the ftdininisTru'ioii uf the government They saw and ff It 
thm, in the effort I 

frank ami h 

wuh < ■ B m; which hud 
d»M ■•-) by sul I 

at letut, had not been >ilent. 
Th«* bsople of this whole 
fidence in: your Excellency waai . mw 

and knew V isofa privaa ild for 

a moment i ardent desire to pron ramon 

It 11 true th- 'here u r>- <* ,,l PBUMUjhts 

> This "^^^HKpf 
"free tral- 
value of th> I 

in a pel tod of war H 

beli- ■ 

ortn unsullie 

ever I 

to sect 



an administratiuD that is founded deep in the affections of the 
■ 
I S York, sir, is capable in itself, of oveng- 

d to us oharacu r, in the 
of its favi i' old beuninindl 

Lfwefatli notour sympathy with yot Ej 

n, at this degradation ufthe 
country - red so well. Yet be assured, sir, that 

: Spirit in |hft Beanie, and [hat diusn 

whom wi nor to r< present, ardently desire an op- 

portuni j r uuduiiiuibJ. ce in an 

administration, whieh has exalted the enaracier of our coun- 
try, which has restored the purity of the government, and has 
Whole uulion die continued blessings 
■ 

', that your Excellency may yet be 
many years to bless and adorn the only, (res nation 
UJ.HJH earth, we remain ^ -, and 

Very bumble wi vunts, 
i HOM \s ARMSTRONG^ 
John K. Ml BBARD, 
1. LITCHFIELD, 
WM. sj.\ UU1 K- 
A IRON REMER. 
J \s. HI GH3TON. 
\\ M. 11. ANGEL. 



N. P. TALLMADGR 
IJ.\ I BE IRDSLEi . 
J. W. EDMONDS, 

I'M VS. [. U\ INKSTUN, 
a OSTK INDER, 
J. W. WILLI Wls.-Y 
PETER WOOD, 
ED. HOWELL, 



i HE PR1 5 mm M' S RJ3PLT. 

w umiiten i I 1932. 

tlemen : 1 have had the honor to receive vour letter of 

■■ a aseactag 

N m York" 

I 9ratM of die 

of H Vta Buren as Minister to England, 

I mi profoundly grateful for the npprol '■ ; hat 

a niizeni of New- 
't 10 express of the 

1 in my charge by the 
' ^ ous offers of 

mfidence and suppe I be reeQcaee 

of mj in nit ih<- viciseitnoea of my 

public life, has been upon the virtOeTmd patriotism of an en- 
lightened peoples 

Tlit ii m ii< iiiii- eeappawt lin«hern my »hti Id and 
in % it*] ■ w In ii. !n I I tut s p:c*l I In SasSSOBU |M I form • 
ii ii< SMT I Ik ii ■ <: hoik, iii lltla r> <l ill i< » nllnl t < <l I o mr . 
th»tt-h 4 row lit (t With BQCCCSS, «tis SSJSSKSBt lobe 

made ■ groniia of reproai h; and tills saanlfV mh- 
ton mi tin part of m> r>llow*citlmens <»r Ui« great 

>tnf« of >i w \ irk. ssiarei ms iliat irrvim not 

nee faithful In the elvll nilmi nl.t i m ton Mill not 

be leas esjin isisiisllj rtefeiwled- 

\' v -•::■■ public servant, public liberty 

* the }-cople becoiotc insensible io in- 
digni': as inientiona devote 



liappinemof 
', und pub* 
o«e of ps> 

i N i ii;i iuMi r. 



themselTi - nt of th 

a ill ceane 

I CANNOT WITHHOLD >n 
RENCI V.ITII Till. nil'M'l.li \N \l!Mi:iKS OP 
IMI LEGISLATURE IN TH KIR HIGH ESTIMA- 
TION OK THEIR EMINENT lil.l.nw CITIZEN 
\\ HOM n*E> •' - v I SO GEN I ROI Si > I <»ME 
KORW \KI) To SI STAIN TO THIS I \\||,|. w>D 
I'll i: VSSnRANCl OK MY I M>IMIM>lll.h III S. 
ll< I KOR 111- GREAT PUBLIC KK D PRIVATE 
WORTH, \M' M 1 ! PILL CONFIDENCE IN THE 
IN IT GRIT^ OK HIS CH \K \< 1 

I exalted 



I i Miner I 



milh' 
lend 1 

\ I 

people of thm eounl 
to judifc of thoa 
ar^init an act unpreceJ 
whuii luu 

to tlw 



[t I' 

■ ' ' ' 
■ 

I on « it to the inti Secret arj at Rtate, to mj »rtf, 

nmi lo the \im rhioi i*co]il. on this m » iulon to 
»tn t . . thai i. Int n.U kmnHi to me* OS Inul nn par* 
tl« | nat ton whnti \ * r In tStS 8M i m i • in • | i • Isklll e 

to tiiTa< If »ud i !»• second o Hirer of the vSTsrsp 
nxni.ni in tin dassolat ion of i in hit • rahfnett ■ nil 
Ihn* Hi. i. Is no uroiiinl f (ll ImpaJtisSSJ to hiinthe 

hm lug iidvl— d thosw rcnoT«K from nfUt < w hh h. 

I il tin ilUi |inr:> <>f ni > < i.n-t || hi IoumI fnm t ion». It 
wsidei mi •! prop* r BO makr. During hi* emit inn* 
mm In I hi mhliK t. hi- t lertlottf » • n ill i» i t< «l to 

k i oil in r luu uion) amonsj it* sni nabt i «t ami h« uui- 



33 



t 



PORMLY ENDEAVORED TO SUSTAIN HIS COL 
LEAGUES. HIS FINAL RESIGNATION 

Sacrifice of official station to what 

HE DEEMED THE BEST INTERESTS OF THE 

COUNTRY 

Mi. M. Line, our (hen minister M I ! "". having pre- 
viously asked permist nairxioua 

aesire to commit the imj am | ■■ - openinour 

relations uiih (iir.it Britain, to aeuccessoi in ■ 

ad capacity J ftdto my selec- 

i Hr. \ .in B in ii ) ii Idea a n ' 

upon him thai b lci ifiee, I did nol doubl that I ' 
beet for tlie rounlry, andacti] villi the public 

wish; andii certa«ily could not have bei . Ithat, in 

il successfully conducting lating an 

important and huh had previously 

received ifii lancti both te would 

have been found motives I'm 

lion and for interrupting an impo iation. 

I (AN NEVER BE LED TO DOUBT, I H CI l\ 
THE INSTRUCTIONS UNDER WHICH THAT VE 
GOTIATION RELATIVE TO THE TRACE WITH 
THE BRITISH WEST INDIES v\ IS CONDI 
AND SUCCESSFULLY CONCLUDED, THE PEO- 
PLE OF THE UNITED STATES WILL FIND 
NOTHING EITHER DEROGATORY To ITU VA 
TIONAL DIGNITY AND HONOR, OR IMPROPER 
FOR SUCH UN OCC ISIQN. 

THOSE PARTS OFTHE INSTR1 < TIONS WHICH 
HAVE BEEN USED I" JUSTIFY THE REJEC- 
TION OF MB VAN BUREN'S NOMINATION l:i 
THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES PRO 
CEEDED FROM MY own S( GGESTION WJ i:i 
THE RESULT OF MY OWN DELIBEB 11 E INVES- 
TIGATION \NI> REFLECTION; \.\l> Now, LS 
WHEN TI11A WERE DICTATED, IPPEAR TO ME 
TO BE ENTIRELY PROPER LND CONSONANT TO 
M\ PL BLIC DUTY. 

I FEEL, GENTLEMEN, THAT I CM INCAPABLE 
OF TARNISHING THE PRIM OR DIGNITY OF 
THAT CO. NTRY, WHOSE GLORY, BOTH IN THE 
FIELD AND IN THE (TVII. IDMINISTRATION 
IT HAS BEEN MY OBJECT TO ELEVATE: AND 
I FEEL ASSURED THAT THE EXALTED ATTI- 
TUDE WHICH THE AMERICAN PEOPLE 
TAIN ABROAD, AND THE PROSPERITY WITH 
WHICH THEY ARE BLESSED VP HOME, IT L- 
LY ATTEST THAT THEIR HONOB UVD HAPPI- 
NESS HAVE BEEN UNSULLIED IN MY HANDS. 

A participation in die trade with the British West India 
Islands, upon terms mutually satisfactory to the United States 
and Great Britain, had been an object of constant solicitude 
with our government from its origin. During the long and 
vexatious history of this subject, various pro 
been .. ade with but partial success; and in the administra- 
tion of my immediate pred 
-adjust it had ended in a total iu,en nation of uie trade. 

The acknowledged importance of this branch of trade, the 
influence it was believed to have had in the elections which 
terminated in the change of the administration, and the gene- 
ral expectation on the part of the people, that renewed efforts, 
on frank and decisive grounds, might be successfully made to 
recover it, imposed upon ine the duty of undertaking the task. 

Recently, however, Gieat Britain had more than once de- 
clined renewing the negotiation. hi r refusal upon 
objections whicn she thought J roper [o take to the manner of 
our previous negotiation and to claims which had at various 
tunes been made upon the part of our government. 

The American government noiwithstanding, continue 1 us 
efforts to obtain a participation in" the traee. It waived the 
claims at fust insisted upon, as well as the' objection to the 
imposition by Great Britainof higher duties neon the j roduce 
of the Uniieu Slates when imported into the West Indies, theft] 
upon the prouuee of her own possessions, which o 
had been taken in 1819 in a despatch of die then Secretary of 
State. 

A participation in die trade with the British West In- 
dia Islands could not have been, at a'nj aa.e, demande 
rignt any more than m that tome B, i isb P. no ean | orta In 
the posture of affairs already adverted to therefore, the Ex- 
ecutive could as* codling more than to be permitted to en- 
gage in it upon the terms absented to Jiy his ] redecessor and 
winch were the siine as diose previously offered by Great 
Britain herself. Even tiles; had Uen denied to die late ad- 
ministration, and for reasort^ferismg from the views enter- 
tamed by the British government t our conduct in the pas - t 
• negotiauoQ, 



It was foreseen that th i light be repealed and on 

When it I ' "-'": 

ml the expectations of tne people 

wholly abandon the Hade, to continue the application, it was 

hjection to the past acts of the American 

ndniin jecrion, aa had been foreseen, was 

, nine insisted upon. 

I , ,;y of all to sustain, by an undivided 

anted authorities 

i line 

the continuance of ' ul< * 

be done to cue 1 tsforeign 

policy. 'ii that it is erroneous. A 

,nge in the administration, however, laisesup 

other e , entitled to re- 

and an 0| en tuloption of a different course implies no 

of the government : nor does 

an admission of the inex| ticability of pri 

, any want of respect for those who may 

hi I END THE CLilMS. OR PRETENSIONS, 

mi HAD BEI \ INDISI l-i 'M . .ii 1.1 C UL- 

, D ON 1 III I IK S1D1 I HEPREA 101 S COR- 

, WH1CHHAD BE \ FOB \ TUMI, 

,. ',:-, THE LATE ADMINISTB ITION, 

WOULD HAVE BEEN TO DEFEND WHAT THAT 

iDMINISTRATIl \, U1 W LIVING THEM. HAD 

LDMITTED TO BE 1 BLE, LND II ill U 

WHIl II 11 \H BEEN l\ THEM CONC1 HI D 

IEXPEDIENT COULD NOT BE SUSTAINED 
IS PROP! 1! I PERO ; KING DEROGATO- 

,,.i HLNG WRONG, 1\ I I 
DUCTING liM NEGOTIATION UPON THE COM- 
LND ESTABLISHED PRINCIPLE, THAT IN 
\ CHANGE OF IDMINISTRATION THERE MAY 
BE \ CORRESPONDING CHANGE IN THE POLL 
,-V \m, , . o| THE GO} ERNMENT.— 

I upon, m the diplomatic and 
public I „f all nations. The fact of its existence in 

■ ni charge i tration of th gov- 
ernment, was oa not be circulation of the American 
press could : while its influence upon die policy 
of foreign nations was both natural and reasonable, it was 
proper, according to my sense of duty, frankly to avow it, if 

vrcstsofllie people of the United Sates should so re- 
quire. 

Such was the motive, and such and nothing more, is the 
ions, taken as a whole, which I di- 
rected to 1 e given to our minister at London, and v, 

1 condemnation of the government 
i £ the late administration, furdier 

than had been implied by their own acts, and admissions. 
I ■, add not reconcile it to my sense of public duty, or of 
ity, thai the United States should suffei 
ed injury or injustice, because a former administration had 
insisted upon terms which it had subsequently waived, or 
had ii, tan offer winch it had after- 

wards beenwilling to embrace. The conduct of previ 
administrations was not to be discussed either for censure or 
defence'; on of this go 1 

is proposed when heretofore oti 
irion now," it was a 
make the Bri'ish government - 
l.eiicy of such a course." 
Both the right and the propriety of settmr tin -h> past 
acts of i revious admiiiisTaiions to justify the exclusion of 
ed States from a tradea! owed loall othemaiions, was 
ictly denied, and the inaructions authorised the minister 

■ that such a course towards the Uni'ed States " un er 
existing circumstances, would be. unjust in itself, anil c ul 1 
n.it tail to exci.e the decest sensibility — the tone of f-eling 
winch a course so unw.s- aid untenable is calculate i to 
pro Rice, would doubtless he greatly aggravated by die con- 
sciousness that G cat Britain lias, by orders in council o. 

her .colonial ports to R ssia and France, notwithst 

a ih 1 !!' narl to acee't the terms offered 
IQnKkof the 5 h J ly, 1S25 ;" — he was told that he could not 
press tin- view of die subject toQearnesdyuPon he consider- 
ation of i he Brush minis ry ;" tnd the prejudicial inflre 
of a course on the i art of the British government so unwise 
and unjust ir.oii the future relations of the two CO 
was cleirljtannouiiced m the declaration that "it has hear- 
ings and relations that reach beyond the immediate quest. un 
under discussion." 

If the British government should decline an arrangement 
"on the ground of a char.ge cf o anion, or in order to pro- 
mo.e her own iaterest^" a from/ avowal of tlu: pur.osn 



was demanded; but if they should not be prepared to 
that ground, "but Buffer themselves to desire that the United 
States should, in expiation of supposed past encroachments, 
be driven to the necessity of retracing their legit 
without knowledge of its effect, and wholly dependent upon 
the indulgence of Great Britinn;" they were to be i 
Me of the impracticability of that course, and to be taught 
to expect such measures on our part as would vindicate 
national interest and honor. To announce distinctly to 
Great Bntian that we would not mbmil too continued injus- 
tice, on the ground of any objection to 

American government, whether it were nghl or wrong, wan 
the obvious import of the whole instructions. 

If the Executive had caused it to be mated to Great Britain, 
that finding his predecessors to have been in error, b 
implied by subsequently waiving the terms they had advo- 
cated, ana had, in expiation of those errors, abandon* 
trade to the pleasure of the British government the interests 
of the United States would have Buffered, ana their honor 
been reproached; but .in excluding such considerations, as in- 
appropriate and unju t, and in clearly avowing I 
not*o submit to Buch treatment, he hoped to promote 'lit- in- 
terests of his fellow citizens, and sustain the honor and dig- 
nity of the country. 

In all this, gentlemen, 1 have the approbation of to 
ment and conscience. Acting- upon the minci] 
nounced, of askinjr nothing but what is right, and buqii 
to nothing that is wrong, Tasked that only ot which tl 
tics could not be denied. I asked a participation in the trade, 
upon terms just to the United 8 

geoua to both countries. 1 directed a simple and diBtinol pro- 
position in conformity with these princi] h 



34 

to theBritish governi with 

nutlnof: b*R**, 1 ultimut.]y arranged the trade upon the basis 

I, "reliance 
— IF T1IK NATIONAL HONOR HAD NOT BEEN 
THOl GHT TARNISHED BY RETRACING OIK 
STEPS, BY CLAIMING Mold. \M> t LTMATELY 
CONSENTIN G TO TAKE LESS, \M> IN FACT OB- 
TAINING NOTHING; I feel flUSured, that in requiring 
thai whi'-h my predecessors ha » 1*- enough; anli 

obtaining all Kai was demanded, no aen will see 

nostain upon their dignity, their pride, or theii honor. 
If 1 1 t derive fi Dm a review 

subject, 1 I | for the 

rts. I Bhall alw;t\ - 
i I ■■ not disappointed 
■ ions "f my ' 
ment aep< nding for it?* permanence upon oui m.are 

participating in a valuaJb n terms more advanta- 

geous than those svhich fl Father ofnii Country 

Was willing le as those which 

under our conventions with Great Britain, 
and which"have been sought vi ithout success from the earli- 
iory. 

republican mem 
here of the legisla I New York and pi for you r- 

individually, the assurance ol my highest rrgard and 
consideration. \M>lU.W .1 \CrCSON. 

U V P.Tallmadge. Thomas Armstrong, Levi 

i: John P. Hubbard, J. W. Edmonds, 

John U 
\\ Peter Wood, E. fl 

W 3 niuvir, Aaron Reiner, Jas. 

Hughston, Win. II V 




35 



GEN. SMITH AND MK. CfcAV. 

from the yational Intelligencer^ 



tto- 

BOu 



m 



TO THE EDITORS. 
Gentlemen : -Please to give a place in your m»r oft 
morrow (if practicable) to the enclosed statemeilfand^. 
will greatly oblige Your obedient servant, gMTTH, 

\2tk February, 1832. 

In a speech of Mr. Clay's, made in the SenWtod re- 
ported in the Intelligencer of the 30th January kst^hat gen- 
flernan stated, "It (the bill for meeting the BFiMshvact of 
Parliament) was brought before Congress in tlie.Vss«,n of 
1825-6, not at the instance of the American Executive, b, 
upon the spontaneous and ill-judged motion of the-genfleman 
from Maryland, (Mr. Smith,") &c. 

In my reply, I made the following remarks : 
"Before I finish my remarks, Mr. President, I will nc.ti.-e 
what was passed between the then Secretary of 5>tate^Mr 
Clay,) and myself, in relation to the act of 1 artm.neiii o 
July 1325. I first saw a copy of that act in Baltinwr^nd 
mentioned it to the Secretary. He said that heshacr the act. 
m his possession, and handed it to me. I asked luni, v. la BH r 
the terms proposed were satisfactory. He said thatjie Sgjisr* 
dered they were all we could ask. I then observed, why^jot 
issue a proclamation under our acts, and thus open the trade 
He replied, that he would prefer negotiation. 1 asked-why' 
for what will you negotiate 7 We have noth.n* to do, but 
to ei»e our J,,., and .he trade is at once opened. I had the 
act printed, and handed a copy to Mr. Adams, who had never 
seen it before. He agreed that the terms were tatufactory. 
1 then pressed him to issue his proc amation, and told him 
that .f he did not, I should be compelled to introduce a bill. 
He remarked, that he wished 1 would do so, and that he 
would not only sign it, hut sign it with pleasure. I did pre- 
pare a bill, undef the order of the Senate, and, doubtful 
whether it might be correctly drawn so as to effect my ob- 
ject, 1 sent it to the then Secretary of State, (Mr. Clay,) with 
a request that he would correct it if necessary He replied m 
writing to this effect, "that the bill was drafted to meet my 
object, that it was so doubtful whether it were best, to act by 
a law, or by negotiation, that it was indifferent which course 
should be adopted." 

In answer to these, there appeared the following note, ap- 
pended to a speech of Mr. Clay, and published in the Intelli- 
gencer of the 9th instant : 

V There is a statement in the published speech of General 
Smith which if he made it in the Senate, did not attract my 
attention. He siyYhe asked me whether the terms proposed 
by the British act of Parliament of July, 1S2B, were satisfac- 
tory, and that I said "I considered they were all we could 
ask " Now I am perfectly confident that the Senator's re- 
collection is inaccurate, and that I never did say to him that 
the terms proposed by the act were all we could ask. It is 
mpossible P I should have said so. For by the terms of the 
Tra entitle Powers not colonial, (and of course the United 
Staled to its privileges, those Powers are required to place 
the commerce and navigation of Great Britain (European as 
well as colonial) upon the footing of the most favored nation. 
That is if we had accepted the terms as tendered on the lace 
of the act, we would have allowed British vessels all the pri- 
vileges which we have granted by our treaties of reciprocity 
with Guatemala and other Powers. The vessels of Great 
Britain, therefore, would have been at liberty to import into 
the United States, on an equal footing with Tnir gwn, the pro- 
ductions of any part of the globe, without a corresponding 
privilege on the part of our vessels, in the porta of Great Brit- 
ain It is true that the King in Council was authorized to 
dispense with some- Qkthe conditions of the act, in behalf of 
PowerB not po3sessmg*colonies. But whether the condition, 
embracing the principle of the most favored nation, would 
haveil§ei§dispen8ed with or not, was unknown to me at the 
time tht*8enator states the conversation to have happened. 



And, long afte-r, Mr. Vaughan, the British Minister, was un- 
able to afford any information as to the act of Parliament. 
That very authority, vested in the King, demonstrates the ne- 
cessity there was for further explanation, if not negotiation. 

" With reBpect to the note from me to the Senator, which he 
says he received accompanying the draft of the bill introduced 
by him, it would be more satisfactory if he would publish the 
note itself, instead of what he represents to be an extract 

H- C 



All my papers being in Baltimore, it has not been in my 
power to ascertain whether I have preserved the note alluded 
to, and the purport or "effect" of which, I had undertaken to 
give from memory. I therefore addressed a note to Mr. 
CAMnitELENG, who was a member of the Committee of # 
Commerce in the House of Representatives at the time, to in- 
ouire whether he had had any communication, either verbal 
or written, with Mr. Clay, on the subject. The following n> 
his answer, which, as it appears to me, clearly, fully, ana 
substantially sustains the statements made by me, from recoi- 

Washington, \\th Feb. 1832. 
Deab Sin :— I have your nole of this date inquiring whe- 
ther I had any written or verbal communication with Mr. 
Clay, when Secretary of State, on the subject of the act ot 
Parliament of July, 1825- _. _ 

\ii.r the passage of that act, the Comptroller of the Uus- 
mms of Halifax, Nova Scotia, construed its provisions as ap- 
plicable to vessels of the United States in that trade, and I had 
ion to call Mr. Clay's attention to that fact. That con- 
struction was afterwards overruled, by an order of the Colo- 
nial Government of the 23d of January, 1826.-Having 
brought the act of Parliament to the consideration of Mr. l/lay, 
I suggested the propriety of reciprocating its provisions, in or- 
der to prevent the interdiction of our commerce with the 
British West Indies. I stated to him my intention of moving 
a resolution upon.«he subject, unless it should interfere with 
some arrangement of Government. I understood Mr. Clay 
as assenting to the propriety and necessity of adopting some 
reciprocal measure, ancl as expressing a desire that Congress 
would act upon die subject. Believing that 1 was acting en- 
tirely in accordance with the views ofthe Admimstrauon. 1 
submitted on the 25th January, 1326, the following resolu- 
tion : — _ , . ... 

" That the Committee on Commerce be instructed to inquire 
into the expediency of amending the act of March 1st, 1823, 
so as to authorise the President of the United States to remove 
the discriminating duties now imposed on British vessels and 
tfieir cargoes, upon their entry from any British American 
possession ; whenever he shall have been officially informed 
that American vessels and their cargoes are in like man- 
ner admitted into the British American colonial free ports." 

Some days afterwards, I received from you a note of Mr. 
Clay's, which he had requested you to show me, stating, ac- 
cording to my recollection, that when he had conferred with 
me, he nad expressed an opinion in favor of legislation— that, 
upon reflection, he thought it would be best to secure this 
trade by negotiation — but though favoring the latter course 
it was a doubtful question, and if Congress should legislate, 
the Government ought to acquiesce. I never heard, at that 
time, any objection made to tile terms ofthe act of Parliament 
—the only question then was, whether the trade, according to 
the stipulations of the act, should be scoured by negotiation or 
by legislation. My impression was, that an act of Congress 
promptly rescinding the restrictions of the aot of March, 1823, 
would have been immediately followed by such an order in 
Council as was required by the act of Parliament, upon open- 
in<» this trade to the countries not possessing colonies. 

I am, &c. C. C. CAMBRELENG. 
Hon. S. Smith, Maryland. 

It might have been added in my remarks, that the "motion" 
was no? spontaneous on my part, but was the necessary 
consequence of a memorial from a highly respectable portion 
of my constituents, which memorial was ultimately, on mo- 
tion of Mr. Tazewell, referred to the Committee of Fmance, 
by whose order, the bill was reported. 8 S, 







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